India  has  signed 12 bilateral Air Services Agreements (ASAs)  with  foreign countries during the past six years. However, in total India has 104 bilateral  ASAs with  foreigncountries.

As   on  1st  April,  2010,  72   foreign  airlines  are operating  to/ from  various destinations in India providing 1356 services/week utilizing 3,26,705 seats/week.

Indian  carriers  are eligible to operate to/from 104  countries  with  whom  India has bilateral Air Services Agreements.   However, four Indian carriers are operating oninternational  sectors to 25 foreign countries operating 990 frequencies per week to 35 destinations. The seat – capacity utilization per week  by the Indian carriers during the last six years are as under:

2004                        -                77,097 seats per week

2005                        -              1,14,664 seats per week

2006                        -              1,16,465 seats per week

2007                        -              1,33,650 seats per week

2008                        -              1,70,053 seats per week

2009                        -              1,59,846 seats per week

As  on  1st  April,  2010,  7,11,356 seats per week are available as capacity entitlements to the Indian carriers on reciprocal  basis.  The Indian carriers and foreign carriers are   utilizing   1,70,914   and  3,26,705  seats  per  week respectively.

The above information was given by the Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel inLok Sabha