Nepal & India sign MoU for revised ASA

Nepal not only accepted the SAARC offer of India, after discussions, it has been agreed by both sides to further liberalise the entitlements contained in the SAARC offer, MoU for a revised ASA was signed based on the ICAO template, A technical agreement was also signed between the Nepal civil aviation authority and the (AAI) which is also a part of the MOU.

Importantly three new points have been granted to Nepal, namely Dehradun, Gorakhpur and Bagdogra and for India, Pokhara, Lumbini, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Jankpur, Dhangadi and Bhairava have been added.

The delegations representing the Government of India and the Government of Nepal met in New Delhi on 8-9 September, 2009 for consultations on air services matters.

Recognising that the Air Services Agreement (ASA) between the Government of Nepal and the Government of India initialed on 5th June, 1997 needed to be revised in the wake of developments which have taken place in the aviation industry since then, the two delegations finalized and initialed the text of a revised Air Services Agreement.

Pending formal approval of the Air Services Agreement by the respective governments of the two countries, both delegations agreed to implement the same on provisional basis with immediate effect.

Regarding the revised Route Schedule, the Nepalese delegation stated that barring Kathmandu, there is no other airport in Nepal, which is suitable for operation of international flights. As such, the designated airlines of India would be in a position to operate to these points as and when these airports are made available for international operations. The Indian delegation expressed similar views in regard to operations by the designated airlines of Nepal to Dehradoon and Gorakhpur, while Bagdogra is operational.

The Nepalese delegation accepted the SAARC offer made by the Government of India in March, 2006. However, after discussions, it was agreed by both sides to further liberalise the entitlements contained in the SAARC offer. Accordingly, both delegations agreed to the following revised capacity entitlements: -

1. The designated airlines of each side shall be entitled to operate 30,000 seats per week to/from the points specified in Route I of Section I and Section II of the Route Schedule with any type of aircraft.

2. Within their overall capacity entitlements, the designated airlines of Nepal shall be entitled to operate not exceeding 10,000 seats per week to/from Mumbai and Bangalore each and not exceeding 15,000 seats per week to/from Delhi. This restriction shall cease to apply with effect from 1st January, 2011.

3. The designated airlines of each side shall be entitled to operate any number of services with any type of aircraft to/from points specified in Route II of Section I and Section II of the Route Schedule.

4. The designated airlines of each side may exercise unlimited intermediate or beyond fifth freedom traffic rights to/from any points within the SAARC Region.

5. The designated airlines of each side shall be permitted to exercise beyond fifth freedom traffic rights to/from the three points, other than the points in the SAARC region, specified in the Route I of Section I and Section II of the Route Schedule. However, the designated airlines of both sides may exercise beyond fifth freedom traffic rights to/from points other than the points in the SAARC Region, on not more than seven flights per week in each direction to/from each point.

The designated airlines of each Party shall be entitled to operate any number of all-cargo services between each other's territory with any type of aircraft with full 3rd, 4th and 5th freedom traffic rights. Such all-cargo services may also be operated under co-operative marketing arrangements such as code sharing blocked space etc.

The delegations took note of the Technical Co-operation Agreement signed between the Airports Authority of India and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. Both sides agreed to take further action for implementation of this Agreement.

The Indian side reiterated its request that permission for the deployment of sky marshals on the flights operated by the designated airlines of India to/from Nepal may be expedited. The Nepalese side took note of the request and informed that the matter had already been referred to the appropriate authority of the Government of Nepal. The Nepalese side will pursue the matter.

This Memorandum of Understanding shall super cede all previous arrangements to the extent applicable and shall come into force with immediate effect.

The Indian delegation was led by Shri Mr. M. Madhavan Nambiar, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, and the Nepalese side was led by Shri Nagendra Prasad Ghimire, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal.