US ready to open its skies to any Indian airline

At present, none of the US airlines has direct flights to India, barring one which operates to Mumbai. In contrast: Daily, there are are 20 non-stop services to China, 13 to South Korea and an average of 51 to Japan.

The US offer is wide-ranging: from letting any airline—regardless of whether it has been designated national carrier or not—carry out services between the two countries to lifting all bars on type of aircraft and number of cities, the proposal lists out a slew of measures that will completely transform the relationship in this sector between India and the US.

With an estimated 1.5 million passengers travelling in a year between the two countries, Washington has conveyed the need to urgently act to ensure that other airlines do not benefit from this surge in passenger rush. As of now, over 85 per cent seats on each flight to US are booked.

The key features of the US proposal include: * Unrestricted capacity for operating air services

• Flights to any point in each other’s territory.

• Enshrining privileges amounting to ‘‘seventh freedom rights’’ that would allow an airline of either country to carry traffic to any point beyond each other’s territory.

• Allowing airlines to pick up traffic from intermediate points.

• No restriction on tourist and cargo charters.

However, the US wants a separate clause on aviation safety to be included in the agreement.

This has proved to be an irritant as India follows safety guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and there is opposition to making an exception for the US.

The proposal has been forwarded by the Civil Aviation Ministry to the Ministry of External Affairs for comments.

Incidentally, several US airlines have tie-ups with European airlines like Air France, Lufthansa and KLM. India is keen to ensure that these airlines do not ‘‘piggy back’’ on the US to increase their market shares here.

But when US Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation Karan Bhatia was here last month, he hinted at the possibility of US airlines entering into partnerships with domestic Indian carriers. He pointed out that a new agreement was necessary for this because the present arrangement rules out any such partnerships.

The existing agreement allows only designated carriers to specific points. While Indian carriers can touch New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, US airlines can only operate to Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai. Both sides can add more points, but there is cap on the number of cities that can be added.

The US has argued that an open-skies agreement will also bring down air fares. While the distance between Washington DC and New Delhi is close to that from Washington DC to Seoul, the air fare to New Delhi is almost double that to Seoul. The US believes this is largely because of the open skies agreement it has with South Korea.