India, New Zealand sign MoU to boost civil aviation cooperation

The Governments of India and New Zealand signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Tuesday, August 29th, to boost cooperation in civil aviation — covering areas like scheduling of new routes, code share services, traffic rights and capacity entitlement. Talking about the significance of the MoU signed, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Minister for Civil Aviation, said, "Today is an important day for Civil Aviation air services between India and New Zealand. We have signed an MoU that has opened the possibilities of furthering of air transport between our two countries. The open sky policy has been put in place. The point of calls has been increased. We have also increased intermediate points." 

Earlier, an Air Services Agreement was signed between New Zealand and India at Auckland on May 1st, 2016. Now, the two governments have reviewed the existing arrangements related to air service between the two countries, and signed the MoU that is expected to further boost the bilateral ties in civil aviation between the two countries.

VIDEO | India and New Zealand sign a memorandum of understanding on air services venue. @JM_Scindia pic.twitter.com/l8NmSjxqXa

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) August 29, 2023

India, New Zealand sign MoU: Salient Points

According to the MoU, the designated airline(s) of New Zealand may operate any number of services with any type of aircraft, with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/from six points in India — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.

The designated airline(s) of India may operate any number of services with any type of aircraft with third and fourth freedom traffic rights to/from Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and three more points in New Zealand to be named by the Government of India.

The designated airlines of both parties may operate any number of all-cargo services with any type of aircraft with third, fourth and fifth freedom traffic rights to/from any points in the territory of the other party via any intermediate point(s) and to any beyond point(s) regardless of the points specified in the route schedule.

The MoU was signed by Rajiv Bansal, Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation and David Pine, the New Zealand High Commissioner in India, in the presence of the Union Minister and Damien O’ Connor, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Land Information, and Minister for Rural Communities of New Zealand.

Thanks Minister Scindia @JM_Scindia, we agree with your assessment that by working together we can transform our two lane road into a four lane skyway. And upgrading our Air Services Agreement today puts us on the runway. @NZinIndia pic.twitter.com/K7H48tW8kq

— Damien O'Connor (@DamienOConnorMP) August 29, 2023