India, Malaysia agree to operate more bilateral flights

NEW DELHI: Flight connectivity between India and Malaysia is all set to improve with both countries agreeing to enhance bilateral landing rights and allow designation of any number of airlines to utilise these rights. An Indian delegation led by civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla signed an MoU with Malaysia recently, said a statement on Monday.

The agreement is significant since Malaysia was on collision course with India on bilateral landing rights. Recently, Malaysia had threatened to bar Indian carriers from using its airspace and India was ready to retaliate. However, the flash-off was defused at the eleventh hour and the two countries have liberalised their bilateral pact now.

According to the pact, both the nations have agreed to designate any number of airlines as they wish to operate on the India-Malaysia route. The capacity entitlement, as per the agreement, for the designated airlines of both sides has also been liberalised. The current move would facilitate increase in traffic rights over the next two years.

The revised agreement allows designated airlines of Malaysia to operate any number of services to 18 destinations in India such as Patna, Lucknow, Guwahati, Gaya, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Khajuraho, Aurangabad, Goa, Jaipur, Port Blair, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Amritsar, Visakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Tiruchirapalli.