Union Cabinet approves signing of revised bilateral air service agreements with Afghanistan, Philippines

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the signing of revised air service agreements between India and Afghanistan as well as India and the Philippines, said an official statement.

If a country wants to operate passenger flights to another country, a "bilateral air services agreement" has to be negotiated to decide how many airlines, port of entries and total flights (or seats) per week can be allowed between the two nations, it said.

The official statement said the revised air services agreement signifies an important landmark in the civil aviation relations between India and the two countries.

Such a revised agreement has the potential to spur greater trade, investment, tourism and cultural exchanges between India and the two countries in tune with the developments in the civil aviation sector, the statement added.

While all scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic, special flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat mission since May and under air bubble arrangements since July. India has formed air bubble arrangements with more than 22 countries.

Under an air bubble agreement between two nations, airlines of both the countries can operate special flights between their territories with certain restrictions. 

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