New Delhi, July 2 (Inditop.com) The government allocated 105,298 additional seats per week to foreign carriers on a reciprocal basis last year and would continue doing so this fiscal to enable greater connectivity, the Economic Survey for 2008-09 released Thursday said.
Apart from this, 26 new destinations were granted to designated carriers of 16 countries on reciprocal basis last fiscal, the survey said.
The designated airlines belong to Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Belgium, Germany, Qatar, Iran, Japan, Bhutan, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Seat allocations were enhanced by increasing the number of flights, frequency and allowing these airlines to fly in bigger aircraft.
This was part of India’s bilateral air agreements, it explained.
According to the civil aviation ministry, India has bilateral air services pacts with over 100 countries, including developed nations like the US, Canada, Russia, France, Britain, Germany, Japan and Australia.
The survey said a cut in aviation fuel prices would augur well for passenger traffic.
However, public oil sector companies had June 30 hiked aviation fuel prices. Airlines too have hiked fares in May and June, excluding concessional fares for the lean monsoon season.
The survey also called for developing new airports, especially in the north-east region and completing the 35 other non-metro airports across the country in a time-bound manner.
