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.
‘DANGEROUS GAME’: Legislative Yuan budget cuts have already become a point of discussion for Democrats and Republicans in Washington, Elbridge Colby said Taiwan’s fall to China “would be a disaster for American interests” and Taipei must raise defense spending to deter Beijing, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Pentagon policy, Elbridge Colby, said on Tuesday during his US Senate confirmation hearing. The nominee for US undersecretary of defense for policy told the Armed Services Committee that Washington needs to motivate Taiwan to avoid a conflict with China and that he is “profoundly disturbed” about its perceived reluctance to raise defense spending closer to 10 percent of GDP. Colby, a China hawk who also served in the Pentagon in Trump’s first team,
SEPARATE: The MAC rebutted Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is China’s province, asserting that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor grants the PRC authority over it The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.” Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN. Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but
CROSSED A LINE: While entertainers working in China have made pro-China statements before, this time it seriously affected the nation’s security and interests, a source said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) late on Saturday night condemned the comments of Taiwanese entertainers who reposted Chinese statements denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty. The nation’s cross-strait affairs authority issued the statement after several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Michelle Chen (陳妍希), on Friday and Saturday shared on their respective Sina Weibo (微博) accounts a post by state broadcaster China Central Television. The post showed an image of a map of Taiwan along with the five stars of the Chinese flag, and the message: “Taiwan is never a country. It never was and never will be.” The post followed remarks
INVESTMENT WATCH: The US activity would not affect the firm’s investment in Taiwan, where 11 production lines would likely be completed this year, C.C. Wei said Investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in the US should not be a cause for concern, but rather seen as the moment that the company and Taiwan stepped into the global spotlight, President William Lai (賴清德) told a news conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday alongside TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家). Wei and US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday announced plans to invest US$100 billion in the US to build three advanced foundries, two packaging plants, and a research and development center, after Trump threatened to slap tariffs on chips made
RSS