India's Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA)

Could Pratt's India investment eventually lead to an MRO presence in India?

The agreement, announced on Thursday (Nov. 9), is part of Airbus’ strategy to support Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) growing its footprint in commercial aircraft MRO in India.

India has confirmed several changes to its aviation regulations, including doubling the validity period of some pilots’ licenses.

India’s Civil Aviation Ministry says the agreement signed with New Zealand covers “new routes, codeshare services, traffic rights and capacity entitlement.”

After a setback in May and June, traffic in July showed promise.

The Indian government said it will consider reopening regular international flights when India’s domestic traffic reaches 50-60% of pre-COVID levels; India’s airlines started a phased return to domestic flying on May 25.