Countries sign air traffic liberalization pact

New Delhi, Nov 17: A multilateral statement of policy principles on air service agreements was signed by seven states and the European Commission on Tuesday, Nov 17 at the conclusion of Freedom Summit hosted by IATA in Montebello, Canada.

The policy principles based on the implementation of Bilateral Air Service Agreements was signed by Chile, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America an the European Commision.

“This is an historic achievement that will help set the foundation for a financially sustainable global aviation industry. One agreement will not change the world. But this is a strong signal that this industry"s future must be realized in a much more liberal environment. Today"s signing is the beginning of a process of change," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA"s Director General and CEO.

Under the policy principles there will be no reduction on restriction on market access and opening up markets to promote bilateral negotiations.

There will also be freedom for airlines to explore the global markets which means that countries would consider the possibility to forgo ownership restriction.

One of the main highlights of the policy principles is the liberty given to signatories to price airlines in line with market realities.

The multilateral policy principles provide a respite from the 65 year bilateral system on air service agreements under which restriction are imposed on airlines to do business, one of which is the restriction on airlines to merge across borders under national ownership requirements

IATA consist of 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.

OneIndia News