Intanto pare ci sia stata una recente revisione del bilaterale
S. Korea, Italy reach new aviation accord
2016/03/25 11:32
SEOUL, March 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Italy have initialed a new aviation agreement to increase flights between the two countries and expand the scope of code-sharing between their airlines, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.
The agreement, which the ministry said would bolster bilateral aviation cooperation and people-to-people and logistical exchanges, was reached during bilateral aviation talks held in Rome on Wednesday and Thursday.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from each side, including Han Min-young, the director of the ministry's economic legal affairs division, and France's Air Transport Director Laschena Giovanna.
Under the accord, the number of direct passenger flights traveling between the two countries each week will increase to 21 from the current 14 by next year, the ministry said in a press release. The weekly figure of cargo flights will also rise to 14 from the current 12.
The ministry said the increases reflect the "drastically growing demand," particularly during peak seasons. The number of air travelers between the two countries jumped to 234,209 last year, an increase of nearly 144 percent from 96,028 in 2014, the ministry said, citing industry data.
The two sides also agreed to expand the scope of code-sharing between their airliners in a bid to bolster bilateral aviation business cooperation.
The existing code-sharing deal has applied to travel routes between the two countries or those involving third countries. But the latest accord will allow the code-sharing practice for domestic routes as well, the ministry said.
Code sharing is an arrangement in which an airline places its designator code on a flight operated by another airline, and sells tickets for that flight, as part of efforts to firm up its market foothold in the world.
Last year, two-way trade was tallied at US$9.4 billion last year, according to the Korea International Trade Association.
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