According to a PIB release, the Government of India (GoI) has given its approval to the amendments in the Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Saudi Arabia. ASA between India and Saudi Arabia was last signed on April 26, 1973, following which bilateral air services talks between the two countries were held from time to time to review air services matters. The last round of such talks was held on January 23, 2008 at Jeddah.
Both the countries are allowed to operate with multiple designations. For the designated Indian carriers, the points of call in Saudi Arabia are – Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Medinah. For Saudi, the points of call are – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Calicut and Lucknow. The capacity entitlement is 75 services per week with any aircraft subject to maximum capacity of 20,000 seats in each direction.
As per the summer schedule of 2009, Saudi Arabian Airlines flies 39 services per week – nine to Mumbai, five to Hyderabad, seven to Delhi, five to Chennai, four to Kochi, two to Bengaluru, four to Calicut and three to Lucknow. |