Open Sky Policy

Blog Credit: Trupti Thakur

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Open Sky Policy

On August 29 2023,  A Memorandum of understanding MOU was signed between the Government of India and the government of New Zealand for an open sky policy, allowing more flights between various cities in the two countries.

In civil aviation, an Open Skies policy means liberalization and ease of access and rules of use of national airports for foreign airlines. It is joined in order to increase the tourist flow and to develop the potential as a regional air hub.

 

Open sky refers to an agreement between two countries to allow any number of airlines to fly from either of them without any restriction on number of flights, number of destinations, number of seats, price and so on. However, this is a general definition. In actual practice, there are always some restrictions.

India’s current Open Sky agreements

Currently, India has open sky agreements with US without restriction. Further, it has such agreement with some restrictions wit UK’ a limited open-sky with ASEAN and bilateral agreements with more than 100 countries.

• There is no restriction on number of flights, seats or destinations to / from United States.
• India has open-sky with UK with restriction on frequencies with respects to flights to and from Mumbai and Delhi.
• For some tourist destinations of ASEAN, India has limited open sky policy.
• India has also entered into bilateral agreements with more than 100 countries over landing points, traffic rights, seasons, capacity etc.

Open sky policy in National Civil Aviation Policy 2016

The National Civil Aviation Policy 2016 has proposed to remove all restrictions on number of flights to and from destinations in SAARC and a radius beyond 5000Kms. Within that radius (covering West and South Asia as well as the countries to the east) flying rights will be auctioned. The government would enter into Open Sky agreement with SAARC countries and countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5000 km radius from New Delhi. Under this:

• Unlimited flights above the existing bilateral rights will be allowed to and from major ports of the country.
• Additional seats above the existing seats within the 5000km radius from New Delhi will be auctioned.

The above proposals imply that European airlines and SAARC airlines (which fall outside 5000 kilometres from New Delhi) will have unlimited access, in terms of number of flights and seats, to some airports in India. For countries within 5000 kilometres, the rights will be auctioned so that the revenue accrues to the government. The government has also restricted this to few airports to protect the domestic airlines.

 

1. Will further boost the bilateral between both nations and Civil Aviation by scheduling of new routes, quote share services, traffic lights and capacity entitlement.

 

Signatories:

 

It was signed by Rajiv bansal, secretary, ministry of civil aviation ( MoCA) India; and David Pine, the New Zealand High Commissioner in the presence of Union Minister Jyotiraditya Sindhia, MoCA, and Damien O’ Connor, Minister for Trade and Export Growth of New Zealand.

 

What is in the MoU?

1. Under this, New Zealand’s designated airline(s) can operate unrestricted services with any type of aircraft holding third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/from six Indian Cities: New Delhi (Delhi), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Hyderabad (Telangana), And Kolkata (West Bengal). This is set to amplify bilateral civil aviation relations.
2. Similarly, India’s designated airline(s) can operate unrestricted services with any aircraft type, having third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/ from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and three other New Zealand Points to be designated by the Indian government.
3. Both parties’ airlines can operate unlimited all-cargo services using any aircraft type, enjoying third, fourth, and fifth freedom traffic rights between any points in each other’s territories, including via intermediate and beyond these in the Route Schedule.

 

Key points:

1. Both sides reviewed the existing arrangements relating to air service between the two countries.
2. An Air Services Agreement was signed between New Zealand and India at Auckland, New Zealand on 1^st May 2016.
3. Third freedom right involves carrying passengers/cargo from home country to another while fourth freedom is the opposite ie. Transporting to home country from another.

• These rights are typically granted together in bilateral agreements.

3. The fifth freedom right means that the aircraft of country A, from a service originating in the country A, is allowed to embark passengers and cargo in country B and disembark them in Country C.

 

Blog By: Trupti Thakur