..:: India Strategic ::. ABC Aviation: India and Seychelles Sign Revised Air Services Agreement

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Editorial

India and Seychelles Sign Revised Air Services Agreement

By Sangeeta Saxena

Published: August 2015

New Delhi. India and Seychelles will see an important upward movement in their aviation ties from today. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, gave its approval for the signing of the revised Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Seychelles to modernize and update the existing ASA signed on 30.10.1978.

The ASA signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between the two friendly countries. As a result of this agreement, the number of flights between India and Seychelles has been increased from three per week to seven per week.

The agreement comes into force just prior President of the Republic of Seychelles, James Michel’s state visit to India this month, at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi.

Diplomatic ties between the two Indian Ocean nations have existed since Seychelles gained independence in 1976 and these resulted into steady growth in trade and tourism between them. Both the countries will be receiving a boost to tourism figures .Before individual airlines can agree to begin international services to another country, the respective airlines’ governments must first negotiate a bilateral agreement known as air services agreements (ASAs), which contain provisions on issues such as traffic rights, tariffs and the number of flights that can be operated per week.

The agreement is an upgrade to a more modern ASA as the existing bilateral agreement was outdated. Air Seychelles and Air India have both provided direct flights between the two countries in times gone by. Currently, Air Sychelles operates to Ahemdabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi and Thiruvananthapuram through direct flights and a code share agreement with Air India.

Seychelles and India have acceded to a modern air services framework, as a symbol of the longstanding friendship and the prevailing commercial interest in the field of air transportation that exist between the two countries.

It may be recalled that Air Seychelles expanded it’s code share pact with Jet Airways recently when in addition to New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata in its existing route network it started operating to Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram also. Air Seychelles also codeshares on international flights operated by Jet Airways and Etihad Airways between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai, offering customers an opportunity to combine a holiday to India or Seychelles with a stopover in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.