It seems to me that many in the game see 'open skies' as the panacea to large profits and a re-awakenning of the longhaul product. Frankly, it will lead to more problems for the industry, as stated VG is a small outfit with perhaps 18 aircraft and BMI have 3 A330 and hardly any longhaul experience. Even if the slots are negotiable it is likely that the likes of delta, continental plus ba and vg will have to reduce fares to such a degree there will be little to earn out of the UK/USA market anyway. It will further lead to as well a decrease in on board service in an effort to cut costs, on board service that is already poor even up the front end. Finally I doubt SQ or Emirates will worry to much about traditional carriers competetiveness.