NUR-SULTAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) SULTAN, January 13 (Sputnik) - Kazakhstan's Parliament on Thursday passed a bill on ratification of the intergovernmental agreement with the United States concerning air traffic.
On December 30, 2019 in Nur-Sultan, US Ambassador to Kazakhstan William H. Moser and Kazakh Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development Beibut Atamkulov signed an intergovernmental air transport agreement. The treaty included unrestricted capacity and frequency of services, open route rights, a liberal charter regime, and open code-sharing opportunities.
According to the recommendations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on the liberalization of air traffic and the US' proposals, the parties can operate flights unhampered by restriction on the number of airlines, destinations and frequencies, including the fifth degree of freedoms of the air for passenger transportation, meaning the parties have the right to fly between two foreign countries on a flight originating or ending in one's own country.
The industry and infrastructure development ministry of Kazakhstan had said that the document is the first treaty in the country's history providing an open skies regime. The ratification of the agreement will allow Kazakh airlines to conduct passenger flights with an unlimited number of frequencies to any city of the US, as well as to carry out cargo flights between points in the US and outside of the country.
The bill is awaiting the signature of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
