Qatar Airways has issued a response to allegations that its Air Italy investment violates agreements between the U.S. and Qatar related to open skies. The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies—a coalition that includes American Airlines, Delta, United and several airline labor organizations—has claimed that Air Italy's new service between Milan and the U.S. is a de facto fifth-freedom route for Qatar Airways, meaning a route whose origin and destination each fall outside an airline's home country.
Qatar Airways owns a 49 percent stake in Air Italy parent company AQA. During a years-long open skies dispute, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies alleged that Qatar Airways was benefiting from government subsidies in violation of open skies agreements. As part of a May 2018 accord to end that dispute, Qatar said it had no intention of adding fifth-freedom flights to the U.S.
In its response to the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies latest claim, Qatar Airways noted that its investment in Air Italy had closed several months prior to the May 2018 understanding and had never been mentioned in those talks. It added that it does not codeshare on any Air Italy flights to the U.S. and has no plans to do so. "Air Italy, the carrier the 'Big 3' cite as a major 'threat' to their survival, has a fleet of just 15 aircraft and serves one U.S. city, New York, with a daily service while other routes—Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco—are operated at a lower frequency," according to Qatar Airways.
In a U.S. Senate hearing this week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the government is "looking very closely" at the investment to see whether it violates the May 2018 agreement.