India has finalised an Open Skies Agreement with Japan, allowing designated airlines of both signatory countries to operate freely.
This is likely to be formalised during Japanese Prime Minister Shino Abe’s visit to India later this month. The agreement may allow airlines from Japan to fly directly to Chennai and Bengaluru.
All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and Air India are the only carriers that connect the two countries, now.
Japan joins a growing number of countries with which India has an open skies agreement. These include the US (2005), Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain, Sri Lanka (last year) and with Greece (2017).
The national civil aviation policy of 2016 allows countries covered under such agreements an unlimited number of flights to the six metro airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai.
In 2003, India had signed an open skies agreement with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).