airlines

EU-US Open Skies agreement comes into force

Transatlantic travel is to see a major shake-up now that the Open Skies agreement between the US and the European Union has come into force.

The agreement came into effect on March 30 2008 and means that any airline can now fly on routes from anywhere in the EU to the US, and is expected to lead to a dramatic increase in transatlantic travel.

Previously airlines were only able to operate flights to and from their home nation. British Airways and Air France have already said that they will launch new routes from other countries.

There will be little initial change to big airports like Heathrow because of the lack of additional take off slots, but small airports look set to many more airlines using them.

The deal also means that US firms can buy up to 49% of shares in European carriers, although EU airlines will only be able to buy 25% of their American counterparts.