The EU–US Open Skies Agreement is an
open skies
The freedoms of the air, also called five freedoms of air transport, are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country's airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country's airspace. They were formulated as a result of disag ...
air transport agreement between the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU) and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
(US). The agreement allows any airline of the European Union and any airline of the United States to fly between any point in the European Union and any point in the United States. Both EU and US airlines are allowed to fly on to a further destination in another country after their initial stop (
Fifth Freedom rights). Because the EU is not treated as a single territory for the purposes of the agreement, this means in practice that US airlines can fly between two points in the EU as long as that flight is the continuation of a flight that started in the US (e.g. New York - Paris - Berlin). Airlines of the EU are also allowed to fly between the US and non-EU countries that are part of the
European Common Aviation Area, like
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. EU and US airlines can operate all-cargo flights under
Seventh Freedom rights, meaning US airlines' all-cargo flights can be operated from one EU country to any other country (including another EU country) and EU airlines' all-cargo flights can operate between the US and any other country. Norway and Iceland acceded to the Agreement from 2011 and their airlines enjoy the same rights as EU airlines.
The treaty disappointed European airlines as they felt it was tilted in favour of United States airlines: while US airlines are allowed to operate intra-EU flights (if this is an all-cargo flight or a passenger flight if it is the second leg of a flight started in the US), European airlines are not permitted to operate intra-US flights nor are they allowed to purchase a controlling stake in a US operator. The Agreement replaced and superseded previous open skies agreements between the US and individual European countries.
The initial agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., on 30 April 2007. The agreement became effective 30 March 2008. Phase two was signed in June 2010 and it has been applied provisionally, pending ratification by all signatories.
Impact
London–United States
Under the agreement,
London Heathrow was opened to full competition. This ended the exclusive right granted for only two US airlines and two UK airlines (established under
Bermuda II Agreement in 1977, which remains in force for UK overseas territories' traffic rights to the US) to fly transatlantic services out of Heathrow. These four airlines were
British Airways
British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
,
Virgin Atlantic,
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
, and
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
.
This right also exists for third-country carriers with incumbent
fifth freedom rights to carry passengers between Heathrow and the United States. These rights were previously exercised by
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...
(between Los Angeles and Heathrow),
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier of India with its main hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, and secondary hubs at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, alo ...
(between New York-JFK and London Heathrow), and
Kuwait Airways (also between New York-JFK and London Heathrow).
El Al
EL AL Israel Airlines Ltd. (), trading as EL AL (, "Upwards", "To the Skies", or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; ) is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve ...
also had such rights but chose not to use them, and
Iran Air technically also had similar rights, but is prohibited from flying to the US due to US government economic
sanctions against Iran.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...
began services to Heathrow from
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
,
New York–JFK,
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
and
Seattle/Tacoma in 2008. Other airlines, such as
Northwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...
,
Continental Airlines
Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers.
Continen ...
and
US Airways
US Airways was a major airline in the United States. It was originally founded in History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon became a commercial passenger airline. In 1953, it ...
also began services to Heathrow, but have since ceased independent operations under these brand names, following their respective mergers with Delta, United, and American.
Nevertheless, expansion of transatlantic flights to or from Heathrow continue to be limited by lack of
runway
In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...
capacity (currently its two runways operate at over 98 percent capacity), government limits (especially when expansion plans to build a third runway and a sixth terminal were cancelled on 12 May 2010, by the
new coalition government[BBC News – Heathrow third runway plans scrapped by new government](_blank)
/ref>), and the fact that many take-off slots are owned by incumbent airlines ( IAG's airlines, including British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia, account for 54% of slots).
Fares
There is little consensus about whether increased transatlantic competition will have any effect on fare
A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various p ...
s. Some believe the market is already highly competitive. Other sources have been predicting radical changes, such as €10 flights.
There have been a number of new entrants that have come into the market in recent years, who have adapted the model of the short-haul low-cost airlines to the transatlantic route. Initially in 2007, Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...
announced that it was planning to start a new airline (RyanAtlantic) that would operate long-haul flights between Europe and the United States but that project was cancelled. However, in 2014 Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle Aksjeselskap, ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norway, Norwegian Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline and Scandinavia's second-largest airline, behind Scandinavian Airlines. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe ...
announced it would start low-cost flights to the US from the Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
and later the UK, in part made possible by new wide-body and narrow-body aircraft with increased fuel efficiency and range. Its Irish and then its new UK subsidiaries applied for US permission to operate these routes, which was met with resistance in the US. Eventually, after the European Commission said it would initiate arbitration procedures under the Agreement, the US granted the Norwegian subsidiaries rights to fly to the US. Other long-haul low-cost airlines, such as LEVEL
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (optical instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
* Spirit level or bubble level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
*C ...
, Primera Air
Primera Air Scandinavia Aktieselskab, A/S, was a Denmark, Danish airline owned by Primera Travel Group. It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from Northern Europe to more than 40 destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterrane ...
and Wow Air, later entered the market, however the latter two have since ceased operation.
Consequences of the UK leaving the EU
There was some debate as to what consequences the UK leaving the EU (Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
) in 2020 would have on UK and United States airlines flying between the UK and United States. In November 2018, the UK concluded an individual open sky agreement with the US that will supersede the EU agreement post-Brexit.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:EU-US Open Skies Agreement
Aviation agreements
Treaties of the United States
Open Skies Agreement
Treaties concluded in 2007
Treaties entered into force in 2008
2007 in aviation
2008 in aviation
2010 in aviation
2007 in the European Union
2007 in the United States
European Union transport law
Aviation in the United States
Aviation in Europe
Treaties concluded in 2010