In a major move to expand international air travel out of the country, the Civil Aviation Ministry has approved new traffic rights to Indian carriers for the next three seasons. The new cities include Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Sydney, Melbourne, Nairobi, Al Najaf (Iraq), Moscow, Zurich, Macau, Tashkent and Ho Chi Minh City.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has also directed holding of fresh bilateral negotiations to enhance air traffic rights with countries like those in the Gulf and Southeast Asia, with whom the existing rights have almost got exhausted. These countries include Singapore, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Macao and Afghanistan.

AIR correspondent reports, Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have got their number of weekly flights enhanced. Air India has also got the rights for the first time to fly on sectors like Delhi-Rome-Madrid/Barcelona, Delhi-Moscow, Delhi-Sydney/Melbourne, Mumbai-Nairobi and Mumbai-Al Najaf.