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India, Kuwait reach deal on air traffic rights
India and Kuwait on Sunday night reached an agreement on resolving a dispute on air traffic rights.
India and Kuwait on Sunday night reached an agreement on resolving a dispute on air traffic rights, over which the gulf state had threatened to stop Indian national carriers flying there from Sunday.
Just before the expiry of the deadline, an MoU was signed by the civil aviation authorities of the two countries after a marathon negotiations lasting three days, Indian ambassador to Kuwait M Ganapthi said.
The talks continued for the third day today to find an amicable solution to the crisis after a high-level Indian delegation extended its stay in Kuwait in last-ditch efforts.
Airline sources said here that India has agreed to allow Kuwait carriers to operate flights to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata and also agreed to marginal increase in seat capacity.
The sources said they would operate the flights from Kuwait as scheduled and there are no flight cancellations.
The agreement, reached between the Kuwait and Indian governments, would be a relief to thousands of passengers, booked on both Indian and Kuwait airlines, ending the uncertainty over their travel plans.
The spat began when Kuwait decided to stop Indian carriers from flying into the country from July 1. In a bid to break the deadlock, a high-level Indian delegation comprising civil aviation ministry joint secretary R K Singh and representatives of A-I and IA arrived in Kuwait on Thursday.
A bilateral agreement was signed between India and Kuwait last year allowing 5,200 seats per week for both. Kuwait has urged to raise the limit and requested that its carriers be allowed to pick up passengers from third nations.
While Kuwait Airways and Al-Jazeera operate daily flights to India, Air India and Indian Airlines maintain a total of seven flights per week out of Kuwait.
The main concern of the Indian Civil Aviation ministry was Jazeera's low fares, as it offers fares ranging from Rs 4000-12,000 on the Mumbai-Dubai sector while fares of Air India Express start at around Rs 7000.
