US, Lanka ink open skies agreement

Our Bureau

KOLKATA, Nov. 8

ANY American passenger carrier flying to and from Sri Lanka with stops in the country may carry local traffic between India and Sri Lanka from January 1, 2007, according to the open-skies aviation agreement reached recently between the US and Sri Lanka.

The agreement, when fully implemented, will remove all restrictions on air services not only between the US and Sri Lanka but also beyond each others territory.

This is fourth such agreement reached by the Bush Administration, after Poland, Oman and France, under the US 56th open-skies agreement.

The agreement eliminates restrictions on how often carriers can fly, the kind of aircraft they can use and the prices they can charge.

It covers both passenger and cargo services, as well as scheduled and charter operations, it is learnt.

Most of the provisions of the agreement will come into force immediately, while others in phases. Thus, pricing liberalisation will take effect on December 31,2004, passenger charter liberalisation on December 31, 2006, (almost the same time when US carriers will be able to handle traffic between India and Sri Lanka), and the ability of the US carriers to provide their own ground handling services in Sri Lanka from March 31,2008.