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Singapore and Sri Lanka signed an "open skies" agreement on Wednesday that will allow airlines from both countries to fly without restriction into each others' territories, officials said.

The deal will take effect immediately and apply to cargo as well as passenger services, Singapore's Ministry of Transport said.

"This agreement marks a new era in the civil aviation relations between Sri Lanka and Singapore," the Ministry's permanent sectretary, Peter Ong, said in a statement. "In line with Sri Lanka's efforts to develop its tourism industry, we believe that this agreement is a positive step forward to fuel greater visitor flows between both countries."

The ministry said Singapore Airlines (SIA) and SriLankan Airlines currently operated seven weekly services each between the two countries. SriLankan Airlines also code-shares on four Emirates Airlines' services between Colombo and Singapore.

The agreement comes after Singapore and Australia signed a similar deal last week but it was not a full "open skies" arrangement because SIA was not allowed to fly the lucrative Australia-Los Angeles route.

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