India reportedly wants to hold talks this month on adopting an Open Skies policy, but Nepal appears to be hesitant to take the plunge.

According to an Indian daily The Hindu, the southern neighbour has written to Saarc members about allowing unlimited air traffic rights within the region as part of its new National Civil Aviation Policy. It expects to sign Open Skies air service agreements (ASA) with all Saarc member countries.

“Nepal has agreed to hold bilateral talks with us,” The Hindu quoted Indian Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey as saying. 

But Nepal’s Civil Aviation Ministry said it was unaware about plans to hold talks. 

“We have not been informed about such discussions,” said Joint Secretary Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane who heads the air service agreement (ASA) division. 

“It’s too early for Nepal to adopt an Open Skies policy. We are constrained by poor infrastructure and limited skies and air routes. So we are not in a position to adopt an Open Skies policy,” he said. 

Open Skies refers to bilateral air service agreements for operating unlimited seats by designated airlines of the two countries. Nepal adopted a liberal sky policy in 1992, and since then it has been gradually pursuing an Open Skies policy.

“Under our liberal skies policy, there are no restrictions on aircraft movement between the two countries,” said Lamichhane.

But one thing is clear. Ministry officials of both countries are set to meet in the third week of November to hold discussions to review the existing airspace agreement. Nepal has requested India to provide three more air 

entry points over Janakpur, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. 

The proposal to review the airspace agreement was made with the aim of providing more cross-border entry and exit points for airlines that will be serving the international airports nearing completion in Bhairahawa and Pokhara and the proposed Second International Airport (SIA) in Nijgadh. 

Originally, bilateral negotiations had been scheduled for October 20; however, it was postponed till the third week of November citing lack of preparation.

“Nepal has proposed to discuss the airspace agreement with India, not the ASA,” said Lamichhane. “These two components are distinctively different.” 

In September 2009, Nepali and Indian aviation authorities revised the ASA and signed a technical accord permitting Indian carriers to increase their weekly seat capacity from 6,000 to 30,000 (nearly 150 flights weekly) over each other’s airspace. 

Under the agreement, three new points were added for Nepali carriers: Dehradun, Gorakhpur and Bagdogra. Indian carriers gained seven additional cities in Nepal.

According to reports, while airlines from Nepal had utilised only 8 percent of the seat entitlements as of June this year, their Indian counterparts had used 23 percent of the seat entitlements. 

Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Indigo Air currently connect Nepal, while Nepal Airlines and Buddha Air fly to India. 

New entrant Himalaya Airlines has been eyeing the Kathmandu-Delhi sector for a long time, but it has not received the go-ahead from the Indian authorities. 

“India has adopted an Open Skies policy, but we don’t know why Himalaya Airlines has not been cleared for a long time although it has fulfilled all the documentation procedures,” said a Civil Aviation Ministry official.