National
India to renew commercial airlink with Kabul
By Gargi Parsai
NEW DELHI, DEC. 15. India is considering the possibility of renewing passenger and cargo airlink with Kabul. This is in response to the Afghanistan Interior Minister-designate, Mr. Younous Qanooni's request, made during his visit to India last week. The request was followed up by the Afghan Foreign Minister-designate, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, this week.
Notwithstanding that the United Nations' sanction against establishing an airlink with (the erstwhile Taliban- ruled) Afghanistan is still valid, the Kabul international airport is not functional yet and the Afghan airspace is closed, the Government has asked Indian Airlines to look at the possibility of renewing flights to Kabul. Indian Airlines is one of the designated airlines, along with Air India, for implementing bilateral air services agreement with other nations. And Ariana is the designated airline for Afghanistan. It is understood that Ariana Airline might start limited operations to Delhi after December 22 when the new Afghan interim administration will take charge. Indian Airlines might take a while as it will first assess the traffic, route and the overall safety and security parameters. Tentative as the situation is, it is likely that India's domestic airline might go in for a limited frequency on the combined Delhi-Amritsar-Kabul route.
A bilateral air services agreement between India and Afghanistan was signed in 1952. Sources said there appears to be no need to renew the agreement with the interim Government in Afghanistan, as the initial pact was signed with the Afghan Government of the day and stands.
Under the agreement, India and Afghanistan can operate five frequencies per week between Delhi and Kabul. Three frequencies are permitted between Amritsar and Kabul. There is no limit on the type of aircraft but there is a cap on the number of passengers and freight that can be carried by either airline.
Indian Airlines closed down its office in Kabul in 1995 but continued operations till 1988. Till then, the airline was operating a Boeing 737 aircraft on the Delhi-Kabul route and a freighter on the Amritsar-Kabul route once a week. The airline withdrew from Afghanistan in 1988, after which it entered into a commercial arrangement with Ariana and shared the logo on their aircraft. This arrangement also ended in 1992.
Ariana continued its Delhi-Kabul-Delhi flights till 1995. After the coup that year, the Afghan airline positioned its aircraft in Delhi. But between 1996 and 1999, it carried only freight and engineering services between Delhi and Kabul. In 1999, the Taliban suspended all commercial flights into Kabul and Ariana returned its fleet to Afghanistan.
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