Yesterday”s (30 March) start of the long-heralded Open Skies agreement between the European Union (EU) and the US has been warmly welcomed by Brussels.
”This agreement is the most ambitious air services deal ever negotiated,” said European Commission (EC) vice president transport Jacques Barrot.
”The two biggest aviation markets, encompassing 60% of world traffic, will cooperate closer in all fields of aviation policy. In May, 2008, the EC will engage in second-stage negotiations with the US. A fully Open Aviation Area between the EU and the US must remain our objective.”
There lies the rub however. Several airlines on both sides of the Atlantic have warned darkly of the consequences if Phase II of the Agreement does not go further in liberalising aspects such as ownership.
Nonetheless, the deal is a watershed moment in aviation history and after years of apparent stalemate, has proceeded remarkably quickly towards yesterday”s reality.
A fair amount of schedule juggling ” such as that which allowed Delta to serve the US from Heathrow through SkyTeam partner Air France dropping some London-Paris flights for example ” will now become the norm. For its part, Air France is also launching a direct Heathrow-Los Angeles service today.
The deal is a rare ray of sunshine for the UK”s beleaguered airport that last week had to cope with the disastrous opening of Terminal 5, with a near meltdown in baggage delivery and flight cancellations on day one.
Continental, Northwest, Delta and US Airways will all join their compatriots of United and American Airlines at Heathrow. The focus has clearly been on the London gateway as existing hubs at Frankfurt, Paris and Amsterdam for example, all have multiple runways where slot allocation is much less of an issue.
However, the EU makes it very clear that it expects further progress to second stage talks. ”The ultimate objective of the EU is to create a transatlantic Open Aviation Area; a single air transport market between the EU and US with free flows of investment and no restrictions on air services, including access to the domestic markets of both parties,” it said in a statement.
”Therefore, the Agreement taking place on 30 March contains a strong mechanism for second-stage negotiations with a clear timetable, starting already in mid-May 2008.”