Just a day after Silverjet chief executive Lawrence Hunt called for a quick resolution to plans for an “open skies” agreement between the EU and the US, the Irish government has said it may look to secure its own deal.
The Guardian reports that Martin Cullen, the Irish transport minister, was unhappy at the current slow pace of proceedings and said he would look to arrange their own agreement if “a deal is not on the horizon”.
An open skies agreement between the US and member states of the European Union could see more competition on routes across the Atlantic, but long-standing agreements are currently in place that favour the flag carriers of many countries.
In the US, rules governing the ownership of airlines have caused a log jam, with the EU saying talks can’t go ahead whilst such restrictions are in place.
But Martin Cullen says that the existing agreements are an unfair advantage in a supposed common market, and if no progress is made in the next few weeks he would look to arrange some form of agreement between the US and Ireland.
Besides the historical ties between the two countries, earlier this month Flyglobespan announced it was to launch two new routes to the States from Knock Airport, which came about after the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, won approval for the routes from the US authorities.
