India allows foreign cargo flights from Intl airports for 3 yrs
India will allow foreign airlines to operate non-scheduled cargo flights from all international airports in the country for three years, lifting 2020 curbs that had restricted them to six — Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. This followed lobbying by exporters against the restrictions.
While India had an open sky policy in air cargo that allowed unhindered movement by foreign airlines, the government amended it in 2020 to give Indian carriers a boost. However, exporters have been protesting that goods capacity had shrunk as Indian carriers failed to deploy enough aircraft to meet demand.
«The open sky policy for foreign cargo carriers has been reviewed by the government,» the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a circular issued on February 12. «The operations of foreign and non-scheduled freighter charter service shall be allowed at all international airports for a period of three years to facilitate air cargo movements.»
Exporters had asked for the policy to be reversed as the cost of ferrying perishables such as marine products shot up. They told the commerce ministry that the move was having a detrimental impact on India's exports, hitting foreign exchange earnings, said people familiar with the matter.
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