"For Too Long, We've Lived Under An Arcane Set Of Rules..."

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) and ACI Europe Tuesday sent a joint letter urging European Union Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and US Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta to make substantial progress on EU-US air service negotiations. The letter calls for them to establish a basis for resuming productive EU/US negotiations at the Ministerial EU-US meeting which will take place tomorrow in Washington, DC.

"Airports and communities on both sides of the Atlantic are delighted that Commissioner Barrot and Secretary Mineta are meeting to discuss ways to reopen EU-US negotiations. For too long, we have lived under an arcane set of rules that artificially limit air service between the two biggest aviation markets in the world," said David Z. Plavin, President of ACI-NA. Plavin continued, "a new agreement is in the interests of airports, airlines and the employees who operate them, as well as the businesses and passengers that depend on affordable access to aviation markets worldwide."

The joint letter expresses concern that without an agreement the initiative may be lost and the "two sides may over time inadvertently slip into a legal quagmire which would create uncertainty or worse to the detriment of travelers, shippers, airports and their communities, airlines and the economies of both sides." In the joint letter, both US and European airports recognize that the EU/US negotiations are groundbreaking and extremely complex. However, the significant public benefits that would result from an open agreement are sufficient reasons for both governments to return to the negotiating table.

US and European airports also highlighted the need for the United States and the European Union to enhance their cooperation on a wide variety of aviation-related issues, such as competition and security, in order to avoid subjecting airports and airlines to potentially conflicting and costly requirements.

FMI: www.airports.org