Wed, Mar 23, 2005
"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.
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