Officials from the
United States and European Union today signed the second-stage Open Skies
agreement, affirming and expanding 2007's landmark transatlantic bilateral as
per terms the two sides agreed to in March this year.
In addition to
affirming the first-stage agreement, the new deal gives U.S. airlines greater night-flying rights in Europe
and lifts some restrictions imposed by the U.S. Fly America Act, but makes no
changes to U.S. foreign ownership rules or restrictions on European airlines
serving intra-U.S. routes, a disappointment to some in the EU.
Additionally,
the U.S. Department of Transportation also said the agreement calls for further
cooperation between the United States and the European Union in aviation
security, safety, competition and environmental issues in addition to "a
ground-breaking article on the importance of high labor standards in the
airline industry."
State Department deputy assistant secretary for
transportation affairs and chief U.S. negotiator for the new bilateral aviation
agreement John Byerly, who plans to retire in September, told
BTN in April that once the deal is signed, "The agreement will provisionally
be applied by the two sides, meaning it will apply in practice, but then formal
ratification is required by parliaments in some of the European
countries."