Singapore says close to full open-skies agreement
AFP
Posted: 24 January 2005 1624 hrs AEDT
Singapore says close to full open-skies agreement with Australia
SINGAPORE : Singapore and Australia are close to signing a full open-skies agreement that would give Singapore Airlines (SIA) access to lucrative Australia-United States routes, Transport Minister Yeo Cheow Tong said Monday.
While declining to comment on when the deal would be inked, Yeo said significant progress was likely to be made in February when he and Australian Transport Minister John Anderson meet in Canberra.
"Both John Anderson and I agreed that once the aviation industry stabilises, post September 11, we'll sit down and do the final steps to a full open-skies agreement," he told reporters.
"I think that the aviation industry has not just settled down but has also recovered strongly so I think the timing is right, just about now," he said.
The two countries signed an agreement in September 2003 that expanded bilateral air links and gave Qantas rights to use Singapore as a base to fly to Europe and beyond.
Singapore Airlines, however, was denied reciprocal rights to fly from Australia to the United States, with Canberra seeking to protect national carrier Qantas from competition on the profitable Australia-Los Angeles route.
The Australian government had cited the poor state of the local aviation industry following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, as a reason for holding back on full liberalisation.
Yeo said Singapore's allowing of Qantas-backed budget carrier Jetstar Asia to operate from the city-state last year was another "big development" that he would point to in talks with Anderson, who is also Australia's deputy prime minister.
"Such a move will benefit Qantas to a huge extent and we'll be happy to give Qantas whatever they want," he said.
Yeo was speaking at a regional aviation conference, where he repeated Singapore's receptiveness towards signing open-skies agreements with all interested parties.
"We will continue to liberalise air service agreements through bilateral or multilateral agreements with other countries and we will always be ready for open skies agreements," he said.
- AFP
==========================================