India, Japan sign open sky pact

September 15, 2017: India and Japan will now be able to operate unlimited number of flights between the two countries as an open sky pact was signed between the two nations.

The agreement is as per National Civil Aviation Policy, 2016, which permits the government to enter into an 'open sky' air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with SAARC nations as well as countries with territory located entirely beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.

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.

Currently, Japanese carriers -- All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines -- fly into India while Air India and Jet Airways BSE operate services to Japan.

Last year India signed open sky agreements with Greece, Jamaica, Guyana, Czech Republic, Finland, Spain and Sri Lanka. India also has open sky agreement with the US, among other countries.