akerosid
25th Oct 2003, 00:41
According to a report on today's ATW news bulletin, the US and EU negotiators are said to be close to a deal which would allow open skies between the US and Europe, but which would leave the Bermuda II treaty out; this means the negotiators will not immediately be tackling the very contentious issue of LHR access which had long been regarded as a major potential obstacle to a deal.
There are still elements to be ironed out, such as that - under the proposed deal, no European carriers could fly direct from LHR to the US, but UK carriers could fly from European airports. That's unlikely to be greeted with much enthusiasm at FRA, AMS and CDG.
The good news from an Irish perspective is that such a deal could be reached over the head of the Irish government and bring the SNN stopover to an end. EI had been looking to increase its US capacity very significantly and if a deal can be done at the next meeting of the two negotiating sides, then this should be possible in time for next Summer's peak season.
:D ;)
There are still elements to be ironed out, such as that - under the proposed deal, no European carriers could fly direct from LHR to the US, but UK carriers could fly from European airports. That's unlikely to be greeted with much enthusiasm at FRA, AMS and CDG.
The good news from an Irish perspective is that such a deal could be reached over the head of the Irish government and bring the SNN stopover to an end. EI had been looking to increase its US capacity very significantly and if a deal can be done at the next meeting of the two negotiating sides, then this should be possible in time for next Summer's peak season.
:D ;)