India, Japan sign open sky agreement

GANDHINAGAR: India and Japan today signed an agreement that will allow their airlines to operate unlimited number of flights between the two countries.

The pact followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe holding strategic discussions on a wide range of issues.

An official release said India and Japan exchanged RoD (Record of Discussions) on civil aviation cooperation with respect to open sky.

“It opens skies between India and Japan ie. Indian and Japanese carriers can mount now unlimited number of flights to the selected cities of each other’s countries,” the release said.

The National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, allows the Government to enter into an ‘open sky’ air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.

Currently, Japanese carriers — All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines — fly into India while Air India and Jet Airways operate services to Japan. (AGENCIES)