ROUTES AFRICA: Niger Signs Open Skies Agreement with UAE

The United Arab Emirates, represented by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), has signed an Open Skies agreement with the government of the Niger. The agreement was signed by H.E Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE minister of economy and chairman of GCAA, and H.E Ibrahim Yacoba, minister of transport, Niger.

The two delegations agreed that any number of designated airlines of both parties will have the right to perform scheduled air services between the two countries. The UAE delegation designated Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, RAK Airways and flydubai as UAE national airlines under the Agreement. The Delegation of Niger designated its national airlines.

The MoU allows full flexibility on the routes, capacity, number of frequencies and types of aircraft, in any type of service (passenger or cargo). The signed memorandum also includes the exercise of fifth freedom traffic rights. In addition, both Parties agreed to allow unrestricted non-scheduled / charter operations between the two countries.

The UAE now has air services agreements with over 160 countries, of which 122 are open skies or fully liberal arrangements.

Richard Maslen

Richard Maslen has travelled across the globe to report on developments in the aviation sector as airlines and airports have continued to evolve and…