(a) whether any proposal is under consideration of the Government to start regular flight between Afghanistan and India;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether any agreement has been signed in this regard;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) the number of flights proposed to be operated between the two countries; and
(f) the time by which the regular flights are likely to commence?
THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION ( SHRI SYED SHAHNAWAZ HUSSAIN )
(a) to (e) : According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Government of India and the Governemnt of Afghanistan on 25th January, 2002, the designated airlines of both countries are entitled to operate a maximum of 1600 seats per week in each direction with any type of aircraft on specified routes. Further, Mahan Air, a designated airline of Iran has also been permitted to operate upto 2 services per week between Tehran and Delhi via Kabul.
(f) : Actual operations are matters of commercial judgement of the concerned airlines. Indian Airlines presently does not have any plans to operate services to Kabul.