A-I, SIA sign agreement

MUMBAI, July 20: Air-India and Singapore Airlines have signed an air services bilateral agreement giving additional traffic rights to both airlines. While Thiruvananthapuram has been given as an additional point of call to Singapore Airlines, A-I has been allowed to operate through Singapore to points in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand with full traffic rights.

The agreement also provides an increase in capacity entitlement of 800 seats per week (two boeing 747 flights) each year for the next three years for both airlines.

A-I will now be allowed an additional Boeing 747 flight to transit through Singapore, increasing it’s capacity to six flights, thus enabling it to operate a total of 12 frequencies, according to an Air-India press release.

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The agreement was reached during a two-day meeting between governments of both countries in Singapore on Friday.

The increase in capacity entitlements is linked to code-sharing arrangements agreed between the two airlines, which would enable Air-India to establish presence in new markets, the release said.