Reaction to the draft Open Skies agreement drawn up by US and EU negotiators has been mixed.
The proposals have the strong backing of the EC Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and Air France KLM.
There was also a cautious welcome from the Association of European Airlines and the International Air Transport Association.
But the UK government, BA, Virgin Atlantic and the International Air Carrier Association have all come out against the agreement.
The strongest criticism came from BA which condemned the draft as a “template designed to bolster US interests.”
Martin Broughton, the carrier's chairman, said the draft, drawn up after talks in Washington and Brussels, offered “miniscule concessions dressed up as significant breakthroughs.”
He warned that the draft agreement was “significantly imbalanced in favour of the US” and was no different from previous deals rejected by the EU Transport Council in 2004 and 2005.
Virgin Atlantic also criticised the agreement, calling on the negotiators to deliver a better deal.
Douglas Alexander, the UK transport secretary, said: “the deal on the table falls short of providing the kind of access to the US market that a number of EU carriers would like.”
He also criticised the US position on foreign ownership and said their claims that it had to do with national security were “frankly outlandish.”
But Jacques Barrot, the EC's transport commissioner, warmly welcomed the agreement and said he would recommend it to the EC Transport Council at its next meeting on March 22.
Mr Barrot said: “In economic terms, this unprecedented agreement would represent a step change - it could be worth up to €12bn in economic benefits and up to 80,000 new jobs.
“The open aviation area could be a centrepiece for a reinvigorated transatlantic relationship."
Air France KLM said the deal would “provide a more harmonised regulatory framework in which to promote a free trade area for air transport.”
The carrier added: “This agreement would enable European and American operators to access any markets between the EU and the U.S.
“It would particularly allow Air France and KLM to sell their non-stop air services between any point in the European Union and the United States.”
Under the draft agreement, US airlines will be allowed from America to any airport in the EU and then onwards to the European single market and the rest of the world.
In return, EU airlines also get unlimited rights to fly direct from any EU airport to any city in the US.
But the draft does not address foreign ownership of airlines in the US, a sticking point of previous attempt at Open Skies deals.
Mr Broughton also said the draft also did not give EU airlines access to the US domestic market, the most lucrative in the world, while the rights to fly from the US to other countries were “limited.”
The BA chairman warned: “Once the US has achieved its prime negotiating objectives of achieving an open skies deal, its motivation to liberalise further will evaporate.”
* See BTE Analysis
* see new jobs on BTE's recruitment site www.businesstraveljobs.com