NEWS
S'pore signs air service agreement with Estonia and Ethiopia
SINGAPORE - Singapore signed two new Air Services Agreement (ASA) today with Estonia and Ethiopia at the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow 2012.
Under the Open Skies Agreement (OSA) with Estonia, airlines belonging to both Singapore and Estonia will be able to fly between the two countries, via and beyond to any third country, without restrictions on capacity, frequency or aircraft type.
This agreement is more liberal than conventional agreements and allows Singapore carriers to base their aircrafts in Estonia and use the country for cargo operations to third countries without any restrictions, and vice versa for Estonian carriers.
Singapore now has air services agreements with all 27 European Union member states, of which 18 are open skies arrangements.
The OSA was signed by Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Lui Tuck Yew, and the Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia Mr Juhan Parts.
Under the agreement with Ethiopia, both countries can operate an agreed number of passenger and cargo flights between and beyond Singapore and Ethiopia.
The ASA was signed by Singapore's Minister of State for Finance and Transport Mrs Josephine Teo, and Ethiopia's State Minister for Transport Mr Getachew Mengistie.
Mrs Teo said, "With this agreement, both Singapore and Ethiopian carriers will now be able to respond quickly to new market opportunities to launch passengers and cargo services, thus helping to further enhance the linkages between the two countries."
Singapore is linked to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, through code-share arrangements between Singapore Airlines and fellow Star Alliance partner, Ethiopian Airlines.
