Officials
from the United States and Switzerland today entered into a new Open Skies
agreement that updates and replaces a 1995 bilateral pact, while granting new
rights for Switzerland-based carriers to pursue corporate deals with some U.S. civilian government contractors.
Signed
today in Bern, Switzerland, and effective immediately, the agreement extends
the usual rights afforded by U.S. Open Skies deals, including lifting
restrictions on route planning, pricing and capacity for carriers in both
countries. Like a recent second-stage agreement with the European Union, the new deal with Switzerland also
overturns some Fly America restrictions,
enabling Swiss carriers that had been locked out of air deals with U.S.
civilian government contractors to get a shot at that business.
Additionally, the new Switzerland deal adds the
right of both countries "to operate all-cargo flights to third countries
without a connection to the home country," the U.S. State Department said
in a statement announcing the deal.