Tony Blair has failed to persuade US president George Bush to make special concessions in the open skies agreement between the EU and America.
As previously reported by Cheapflights (see our recent story Blair is to intervene in open skies deal), the Prime Minister wanted the US to further liberalise its aviation industry for foreign investors before more American airlines are allowed to fly to Heathrow under the upcoming new deal.
However, his requests were knocked back by the President in a conversation between the two, according to The Independent.
“The discussion did not go well because Bush does not seem to have been interested,” a source told the newspaper. “So much for the special relationship. Blair has already said he is not prepared to sell off the family silver by opening up Heathrow to any US airline without anything in return.”
He added: “He now has to think whether the UK should block the agreement outright.”
Under the current agreement, only four airlines are allowed to fly between Heathrow and the US: British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines and United Airlines.
BA and Virgin have argued that the new deal, as it stands, would mean the UK receives nothing in return for the valuable Heathrow take-off and landing slots that it would be giving away.
However, the deal looks increasingly likely to go ahead without the concessions that the UK wants, as major EU players including France and Germany are strongly in favour.
In the long run, the deal is likely to bring lower fares for transatlantic passengers as competition increases.
