New Delhi: The government is examining a proposal to renegotiate foreign flying rights with several countries, including those in the Middle East. The idea is to cut down on so-called sixth-freedom privileges to foreign carriers — carrying passengers from India to various destinations across the globe through airports in their countries, several officials told ET.

ICAO characterizes all "freedoms" beyond the Fifth as "so-called" because only the first five "freedoms" have been officially recognized as such by international treaty.
Sixth Freedom of The Air - the right or privilege, in respect of scheduled international air services, of transporting, via the home State of the carrier, traffic moving between two other States (also known as a Sixth Freedom Right). The so-called Sixth Freedom of the Air, unlike the first five freedoms, is not incorporated as such into any widely recognized air service agreements such as the "Five Freedoms Agreement".

India should refrain from renegotiating bilateral foreign flying rights as it would be a violation of international regulations, and would also restrict the growth of the country’s aviation sector, Qatar Airways’ group CEO Akbar Al Baker told ET. “I think if they do that, they are violating international regulations…

The aviation ministry is working on a plan to unilaterally reduce foreign flying rights granted to the United Arab Emirates , Qatar and Germany to curb so-called sixth freedom traffic. This refers to, for instance, a person flying to New York from India via Dubai or any third country.
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As part of the proposal being discussed, the ministry plans to merge the UAE bilateral into one and reduce each emirate’s foreign flying rights by a third, multiple sources told ET.
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The official added that no formal proposal has been sent to these countries yet and the plan is still being discussed with, among others, the external affairs ministry. The idea is to help Indian carriers expand internationally as a substantial number of people going to Europe and Americas fly through these hubs, the person said.
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A similar reduction is being discussed for Qatar and Germany.

the current frequencies available under the air bubble arrangements are adequate to meet the demand and there is not much demand for international routes as the visa regime is very restrictive.
He also noted that on certain sectors such as US and Canada, airlines have 30 to 40 per cent load factors for mid-December 2021. "We can surely consider opening once demand nears pre-COVID levels."