Australia and India signed (22-Jun-2018) a new bilateral air services agreement. Key details include:
- Parties have agreed open capacity between the major airports in their respective countries;
- Australian airlines will be able to operate unlimited services between Australia and India's six major metropolitan airports;
- Indian airlines will be able to operate unlimited services between India and six airports in Australia;
- Liberal codeshare arrangements are already in place, enabling Australian and Indian airlines to service destinations directly or through hub countries, allowing them to take full advantage of cooperative arrangements with their commercial alliance partners.
Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo reported India is Australia's seventh most valuable international tourism market with 302,200 visitors contributing AUD1430 million (USD1063 million) to the Australian economy in 2017. It is estimated that by 2026-27 Australia will welcome more than 640,000 Indian arrivals. [more - original PR]