Bilateral air services negotiations
between India and Sri Lanka were held on October 9, 2006. The
Indian delegation was led by Ajay Prasad, Secretary, Civil
Aviation, Government of India and the Sri Lankan delegation was
led by Tilak Collure, Secretary, Ministry of Ports and Aviation.
The negotiations reinforced the special position Sri Lanka
enjoys in the aviation sector in India.
SriLankan Airline is already the largest foreign airline
operating into India with 86 weekly fights. SriLankan Airlines
has already the permission to operate daily flights to six
Indian metropolitan cities and unlimited frequencies to 18
tourist destinations in India. The three Indian carriers
—`A0Indian, Jet and Sahara — operate 21 weekly flights to Sri
Lanka.
During the negotiations, the Indian side allowed SriLankan
Airlines seven additional weekly fights to Mumbai and seven
additional flights to Bangalore with effect from winter 2008.
India also allowed seven weekly flights to Coimbatore and Pune.
Sri Lanka has enjoyed "SAARC Plus" privileges in the civil
aviation sector in India. During the 13th SAARC Summit at Dhaka
in 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended to all SAARC
countries the same privileges as were extended to Sri Lanka. To
continue the special relationship with Sri Lanka, the Indian
delegation agreed to additional flights to Mumbai, Bangalore,
Coimbatore and Pune which would further strengthen the presence
of SriLankan Airlines in the civil aviation map of India.
Ajay Prasad called on Mangala Samarwaweera, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Ports and Aviation on October 11, 2006. During
the meeting, matters of bilateral importance in the field of
civil aviation were discussed. Minister Samaraweera appreciated
India’s gesture on awarding additional frequencies to SriLankan
Airlines. He evinced interest in the public-private partnership
model followed for the Cochin International Airport. Prasad
informed the minister on the plans for upgradation of aviation
infrastructure in India, including modernization of the 35
airports in the country. He also elaborated on plans for
acquiring new aircraft by Air India and Indian at a cost of US$
9 billion and a proposed purchase of aircraft by the private
sector India Airlines at a cost of US$ 7 billion.
Restarting SriLankan Airlines flights to Bodhgaya was also
discussed. Prasad said that as a special gesture, the Indian
government permitted SriLankan Airlines to extend the Colombo-Bodhgaya
flight to Colombo-Bodhgaya-Delhi sector.
