By NNN-PTI
Dubai : India and UAE have entered into a new air services agreement which will see more sectors being opened up between the two countries as well allow code-sharing for further liberalising the industry.
The India-UAE aviation sector is profit-making one for many airlines in the Gulf since a million-strong Indians live and work in the UAE.
The agreement, signed here last evening, will see more flights between India-Abu Dhabi and India-Ras Al Khaimah sector.
The Indian side was led by R K Singh, joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation while the UAE was represented by the aviation authority.
Under the deal, UAE carrier Ethihad Airways will start flying to Chennai and Calicut from Abu Dhabi in March and from the next winter schedule (October 2008) to Kolkata and Jaipur.
India has agreed to allow flights to four new destinations from Abu Dhabi, while the UAE national carrier was asking for permission to fly to nine sectors, sources said.
On the India-Ras Al Khaimah sector, Ras Al Khaimah airways will be able to choose any one city in Kerala out of Calicut, Cochin and Thiruvananthapuram. The airline plans to start flights to India in March.
After signing the agreement, Singh said that further opening up of the sectors will allow more seats, thereby helping to bring down tariffs, a move which will help huge blue-collar workforce in the UAE.