In a significant stride towards bolstering international air connectivity, India and New Zealand have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation in the civil aviation sector. The MoU will encompass the scheduling of new routes, code-sharing services, traffic rights, and capacity entitlement.
The MoU was signed by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and David Pine, the New Zealand High Commissioner, in the presence of Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Damien O’ Connor, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Land Information, and Minister for Rural Communities of New Zealand.
Earlier, in 2016, both countries signed an Air Services Agreement. The Ministry said that this MoU is expected to further boost bilateral ties in civil aviation between the two countries.
“According to the MoU, the designated airline(s) of New Zealand may operate any number of services with any type of aircraft, with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/from six points in India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata,” said the Ministry.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said, “Today is an important day for civil aviation air services between India and New Zealand. We have signed an MoU that has opened the possibilities for furthering air transport between our two countries. The open sky policy has been put in place. The point of calls has been increased. We have also increased intermediate points.”
Other developments from this MoU will be that the designated airline(s) of India may operate any number of services with any type of aircraft with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and three more points in New Zealand to be named by the Government of the Republic of India. In addition, the designated airlines of both parties may operate any number of all-cargo services with any type of aircraft with third, fourth, and fifth freedom traffic rights to or from any points in the territory of the other party via any intermediate point(s) and to any beyond point(s), regardless of the points specified in the Route Schedule.