Europe's Calleja Confident Open Skies Will Reach Stage Two

The lead European negotiator for the transatlantic Open Skies treaty, the first stage of which comes into effect on March 30, this month told BTN he is confident the United States and European Union will reach agreement on a second stage to the deal.

Stage one of the treaty, concluded last year, allows any U.S. carrier to fly to any point within the European Union and vice versa. Critics, especially British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, believe the United States will not give ground on the two key issues scheduled for the second phase of the deal, namely allowing onward flying for European carriers within the United States and greater foreign ownership of U.S. airlines. They argue the European Union gave away its best bargaining chip in stage one by allowing U.S. carriers unrestricted access to London Heathrow. Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and US Airways all will commence services to Heathrow on March 30.

However, Daniel Calleja, director of air transport for the European Commission, told BTN he has every expectation of success when negotiations resume in May. "We have made sure the U.S. will be interested because they have committed to a very clear timetable for negotiation for stage two," he said. "If no significant progress has been made, then the E.U. has the right to withdraw a certain number of benefits."

Critics argue that in practice it is inconceivable for the E.U. to remove, for instance, landing rights at Heathrow once U.S. carriers commence service. Calleja does not believe it will come to that because the success of stage one will convince the United States of the benefits of greater liberalization. When stage two is scheduled to come into effect in 2010, "cooperation on both sides of the Atlantic will have developed, and this will have a great impact," he said. "We believe this is possible because it will be a win-win situation, not just for Europe."

Calleja added that the United States and European Union already are cooperating much more closely on aviation security issues, previously a major source of disagreement, and that he expects Open Skies to push down transatlantic fares.