Dhaka, Delhi sign deal on air-route expansion

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FE Report
Designated airlines from Bangladesh can operate any number of services to 18 tourist getaways in India while Indian carriers can now fly to Sylhet in Bangladesh, besides Dhaka, said a civil aviation official.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for liberalising air space was signed between the representatives from India and Bangladesh during the three-day bilateral air services consultations that concluded Wednesday in New Delhi.
Civil Aviation Ministry officials of both the countries agreed to further liberalise India's existing offer to SAARC nations.
The designated airlines of the two countries are now entitled to operate 61 services every week from any point in each other's territory with any type of aircraft, without any restriction or capping.
The designated airlines of Bangladesh can operate any number of services to 18 Indian destinations. Those are Patna, Lucknow, Guwahati, Gaya, Varanasi, Bhubaneshwar, Khajuraho, Aurangabad, Goa, Jaipur, Port Blair, Kochi, Trivandrum, Kozhikode, Amritsar, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmedabad and Tiruchirapalli.
The Bangladesh side agreed to grant Sylhet as an additional point of call for Indian designated carriers.
The two sides also agreed to allow cooperative marketing arrangements to make air operations commercially viable.
On the cargo front, designated airlines would be entitled to operate seven all-cargo flights per week to each other's territory with any type of aircraft.