Open skies come a few miles closer
UK hands over its right to negotiate on lucrative transatlantic deals
The lucrative transatlantic market is finally on the verge of being opened up, after the Government agreed to let the European Commission negotiate a new deal with the United States.
The current deal, the Bermuda 2 agreement, allows just four carriers – BA, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines –to fly between Heathrow and the United States. The treaty was last year found to be illegal because it benefits British carriers over those from continental Europe.
Rod Eddington, BA chairman, told The Guardian he thought the decision was “historic”, adding that it would give the aviation industry “the same freedom as other industries in cross-border mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures”.
However, a spokesman for BMI was concerned that such a decision would take a long time to implement: “It took Europe 10 years to introduce common aviation agreements within its own boundaries. An agreement with the US will take years – all the treaties will have to be unravelled and all the stakeholders will have to be satisfied.”
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