The Government has decided to open 11 new International routes under Bilateral Air Services Agreements to the national carrier Air India and to other Indian Scheduled Carriers.

A release issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in New Delhi said, the decision will help expand global networks of such carriers as well as to make air travel more affordable to people.

The sectors which are to be opened include Mumbai-Dar-es-Salaam, Delhi-Guangzhou, Delhi-Yangon, Delhi-Tashkent, Delhi-Hanoi, Delhi-Addis Ababa, Delhi-Melbourne and Delhi-Sydney. With this decision, the international services of Air India and its subsdiary Air India Express will increase from 430 flights per week to 471 services per week this summer.

The number of global flights of all private carriers would also go up. The release said, the private airlines would continue to operate on these international sectors till such time they reach the maximum permissible limit under bilateral agreements.

In order to safeguard the interests of Air India, the Ministry decided that the national carrier's operational plan would receive due consideration in allocation of traffic rights and entitlements.