Passengers flying between Europe and the US should get more choice and cheaper tickets if all goes as officials plan under a new EU-US aviation pact taking effect yesterday.
After more than four years of often tense negotiations, hopes are high that the new "open skies" agreement will usher in a new era of transatlantic travel.
"This marks the start of a new era in transatlantic aviation," said EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot. "This agreement will bring more competition and cheaper flights."
The EU estimates that the accord could provide a major boost to transatlantic air traffic with more than 26 million extra passengers expected over the next five years.
Meanwhile, the deal is estimated to deliver benefits worth 12 billion euros (US$19 billion) for consumers and create 80,000 new jobs in the EU and the US combined.
The pact is supposed to meet those high ambitions by replacing with a single EU-US accord the patchwork of 21 bilateral aviation agreements that previously existed between Washington and individual European nations.
Previously, six EU countries without bilateral accords could not have direct flights to the US.
The new agreement's main innovation is that it will allow any EU carrier to fly from anywhere in the bloc to any point in the US, and then on to a third country, and vice versa. This was previously not possible.
However, EU airlines will still be unable to operate domestic US routes, and nor will US carriers be allowed to fly between cities in the same European country.
"The US-EU open skies agreement is a win for consumers because more carriers will be able to compete in more markets," Delta executive vice president Glen Hauenstein said.
"More competition will bring better service, lower fares, more destinations and more frequencies," he said.
The pact will also lift restrictions on which airlines can fly from which airport, having an important impact on the money-spinning transatlantic routes from London's busy Heathrow airport.
Under Britain's current bilateral aviation accord with the US, only British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic and US carriers United Airlines and American Airlines can fly routes from Heathrow to the US.
Airlines not previously in that exclusive club have seized on the opportunity to fly new routes out of Heathrow.
"Continental has waited a long time to gain access to Heathrow and this is a great day for us, as well as for all trans-Atlantic travellers," Continental Airlines chief executive Larry Kellner said announcing new Heathrow routes.
The route between Heathrow and the US is a lucrative one, with a first-class BA return ticket costing as much as £7,000 (US$14,000).
Heathrow, which 68 million passengers a year, is the world's third-largest airport in terms of total passengers.
While BA is losing its grip on Heathrow, it is also seeking to take advantage of the pact by launching a new subsidiary named OpenSkies to fly from continental Europe to the US.
The new pact also lifts restrictions on EU carriers buying stakes of more than 50 percent in US airlines although their voting rights in a US company will remain capped at 25 percent.
US airlines will in turn be able to hold voting rights of up to 49 percent in a European carrier. although that could come back down to 25 percent if there is no progress in negotiations on further liberalisation.
Those talks are due to get underway in mid-May, setting the stage for another round of long and tough bargaining.
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday. The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said. It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said. Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added. While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its
EYES AT SEA: Many marine enthusiasts have expressed interest in volunteering for coastal patrols, which would help identify stowaways and illegal fishing, the CGA said Six thousand coastal patrol volunteers are to be recruited for 159 inspection offices to enhance the nation’s response to “gray zone” conflicts, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sources said yesterday. Volunteer teams would be established to increase the resilience of coastal defense systems in the wake of two unlawful entries attempted by Chinese over the past three months, Ocean Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. A former Chinese navy captain drove a motorboat into the Tamsui River (淡水河) in Taipei on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, while another Chinese man sailed in a rubber boat into the Houkeng
NEXT LEVEL: The defense ministry confirmed that a video released last month featured personnel piloting new FPV drone systems being developed by the Armaments Bureau Taipei and Washington are pushing for their drone companies to work together to establish a China-free supply chain, the Financial Times reported on Friday. A delegation of high-level executives and US government officials were yesterday to arrive in Taipei to discuss with their Taiwanese counterparts collaboration on drone technology procurement and development, the report said. The executives represent 26 US manufacturers of drone and counter-drone systems, while the officials are from the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit, along with Dev Shenoy, principal director for microelectronics in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’