India will allow foreign airlines to operate non-scheduled cargo flights from all airports in the country for three years, lifting 2020 curbs that had restricted them to six–Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai. This followed lobbying by exporters against the restrictions.
While India had an open sky policy in air cargo that allowed unhindered movement by foreign airlines, the government amended it in 2020 to give Indian carriers a boost. With minimum earnings from passenger flights due to the pandemic at the time, they depended on cargo to make money.
