Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-UK air carriers (a) in total and (b) based in India hold a foreign carriers licence; and if he will make a statement?

Air services between the UK and India are subject to the UK-India Air Services Agreement (ASA – a bilateral treaty that determines who can fly where and when). The ASA allows a wide range of “traffic rights” between our two countries and additional frequencies were recently agreed following bilateral negotiations in New Delhi.

There are very few remaining restrictions on air services between UK regional airports and points in India and, for example, there are no restrictions on air services by UK or Indian airlines between points in the UK and Gujarat. However, whether or not to operate is a commercial decision for airlines.

Under the terms of the ASA, both Parties are able to designate airlines to operate direct scheduled services between the UK and India. Currently two Indian airlines have been formally designated by the Indian authorities to operate such services and hold Foreign Carrier Permits issued by the UK CAA.

Data on commercial flight operations is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The total number of commercial flights operated at each airport in the UK between April 2020 and March 2023 is available from Table 6 of monthly CAA UK airport data: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/airports/uk-airport-data/.

The total number of commercial flights operated from UK airports to airports in each destination country including India between April 2020 and March 2023 is available from the “Full Analysis Arrival Departure” tables of monthly CAA flight punctuality statistics: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/flight-punctuality/uk-flight-punctuality-statistics/.