Open Skies benefits will be tangible and far-reaching, according to the European Commission (EC).
Despite acknowledging that a certain amount of foot-dragging was inevitable from the US side, the EC nonetheless pointed to the enormous potential that Open Skies could bring.
Speaking at the Routes Leaders Forum in Stockholm, EC senior negotiator, Air Transport Agreements, Dr Mark Niklas, said: ”The benefits of 80,000 jobs and 12bn Euros are all from this big first step forward."
”These opportunities did not exist before and we are very pleased that airlines want to take them up. It”s not just British Airways (for example), but niche carriers too.”
Addressing the Forum yesterday, BA CEO Willie Walsh, accepted that upcoming US presidential elections and American union reticence, could delay progress to Stage II of Open Skies, a point that Niklas echoed.
”US regulators have been very reluctant to modernize ” we have to be realistic,” he said, adding: ”but (further) negotiations will start in May next year until 2010. If there is no progress, we may have to suspend routes.”
There is likely to be significant jockeying for position at London Heathrow and with the UK capital accounting for a staggering 40% of all transatlantic business class traffic, the Open Skies stakes are clearly high.
”Capacity at Heathrow is constraining as the airport is essentially full,” said BAA commercial director, Dr Duncan Garrood. ”We have 480,000 slots available and 470,000 of those are already taken. Additional runway capacity is a long-term prospect.”
Garrood also expressed the hope that EU-US Open Skies would act as a template to stimulate other parts of the world to liberalise ” much in the way that the recent UK-India bilateral deal had opened up that market.