| "We will meet in the next two-three days. Certain issues are yet to be sorted out as we could not do it on Tuesday due to lack of time," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today. |
| The EGoM, which is headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and has Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Patel as members, held a 90-minute meeting yesterday that remained inconclusive. |
| The RFP document will list the new facilities that are required to upgrade the two airports. |
| It will also give a blueprint for clearing slums, which is required for expanding Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, and give financial outlays for modernisation plans. |
| While addressing a seminar on airport infrastructure, Patel said the government would soon hold talks with France, Germany, Hong Kong and China to enhance bilateral air traffic rights in line with what had been agreed upon with the US and the UK. |
| "Along with the limited 'open sky' policy, we will be liberalising our bilaterals and we will hold talks with these countries," Patel said. |
| Such arrangements will also be worked out with Asean nations, with whom agreements to open up the skies have already been signed, he said. |
| While there is an unlimited "open sky" agreement with the US, the bilateral air traffic have been doubled to 40 flights a week with the UK. India has also allowed Jet Airways and Air Sahara to fly to London and Gatwick. |
| The minister also said no attention had been paid to developing airports in the last five decades. |
| Besides improving airport infrastructure, India is also upgrading aircraft owned by the state-run carriers Indian Airlines and Air India. |
| While Indian Airlines is currently negotiating with aircraft maker Airbus, Air India's fleet acquisition plans will be takenup at the pre-public investment board (PIB) level. The government hopes to finalise the fleet acquisition plans of the two carriers in the current financial year. |
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