Singapore and Uruguay sign open skies agreement for airlines

Singapore has signed a new Open Skies Agreement (OSA) with Uruguay. The agreement allows designated airlines to fly between both countries and it is more liberal than conventional ones, said the Ministry of Transport in a statement on Wednesday.

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The Ministry of Transport said: "The agreement was signed on Oct 2 by Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Transport of Singapore, and Mr Luis Porto, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay.

"In addition to allowing designated airlines to fly between Singapore and Uruguay, via and beyond to any third country, the agreement provides for "hubbing" and "cabotage" rights for carriers of both countries.

"As an illustration, Singapore carriers will be allowed to base their aircraft in Uruguay and use Uruguay as a hub to operate to any other country without restrictions on capacity, frequency or aircraft type. The same privilege applies to Uruguay carriers.

In addition, the cabotage rights also allow Singapore carriers to operate like a domestic carrier in Uruguay and to mount any number of services between Uruguay cities, and vice versa.

With this, Singapore has established Air Services Agreements with more than 120 countries, of which more than 50 are OSAs, said the ministry.