Are the objections to the agreement made by European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot really just about more access to US destinations or is it the UK versus its continental partners who are looking to reduce the power of Heathrow as a hub?
Onésimo Alvarez-Moro
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Britain on Tuesday signalled its unhappiness with the proposed deal to liberalise transatlantic aviation services, saying it failed to give European air carriers enough access to the US.
Washington and Brussels reached a provisional accord last Friday, but Douglas Alexander, UK transport secretary, said “the deal on the table falls short of providing the kind of access to the US market that a number of EU carriers would like”.
He said the refusal of the US to allow Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group along with US investors to start up Virgin America showed that “many in the US would rather hold on to ownership and control rules passed more than 60 years ago than adapt to the 21st century and enjoy all the benefits that a more open approach would bring”.
Mr Alexander said arguments put forward in the US about the threat to national security if airline ownership passed into foreign hands were “frankly outlandish”.
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