Brussels, 28/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is expanding aviation cooperation with Sri Landa. On Friday 27 September 2012, the European Commission, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka signed a sound legal basis for developing future aviation relations between Sri Lanka and EU member states. The agreement will remove nationality restrictions in bilateral air services agreements and will thereby allow any EU airline to operate flights between Sri Lanka and any EU member state in which it is established, where a bilateral agreement between the EU member state concerned and Sri Lanka already exists and traffic rights are available. Last year, the total number of air passengers travelling between the EU and Sri Lanka increased by nearly 11% to approximately 520,000 passengers. The EU is signing a raft of such aviation deal with countries around the world in order to open up new markets and ensure high safety standards and respect for the environment in global transport. (MD/transl.fl)