Free Republic

Histadrut Labor Federation has announced Sunday the Airport Authority will launch a strike action on Tuesday to demonstrate solidarity with airline workers who are protesting the government’s decision to approve the “open skies” agreement. During the strike, the Ben Gurion Airport will be entirely shut down for a number of hours, starting 5 am. According to the announcement, no services will be provided to foreign airlines during the strike. … Earlier Sunday, the cabinet approved the “open skies” agreement with a 16 to 3 majority, while striking airline employees protested in front of the building, clashing with security forces. The...

A new plan being discussed among officials from the United States, Mexico and Canada essentially would erase national borders in North America for air carriers, perhaps giving Aeromexico a pass to run a Los Angeles-Toronto route or Air Canada to compete on the New York-Paris connection, according to WND columnist Jerome Corsi. He reported on a meeting held in Tucson, Ariz., involving U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and her Mexican and Canadian counterparts. She's already under fire, as WND has reported, for continuing work on a program that could start as early as July 15 to give Mexican truckers...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Two Mexican airlines wanting to reach a growing immigrant population in Arkansas and neighboring states may soon add direct flights to Little Rock. Aeromexico and Mexicana, two of Mexico's largest airlines, are in discussions to fly in and out of Little Rock National Airport, said airport spokesman Philip Launius. The hope, Launius said, is that the airport would be the central hub for travel to Mexico from Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee. 'One of the Japanese steel company executives described Arkansas as being the navel of NAFTA,' Launius said, referring to the North American Free Trade...

The United States and the European Union have signed up to a new transatlantic economic partnership at a summit in Washington. The pact is designed to boost trade and investment by harmonising regulatory standards, laying the basis for a US-EU single market. The two sides also signed an Open Skies deal, designed to reduce fares and boost traffic on transatlantic flights. But little of substance was agreed on climate change. However, EU leaders were pleased that the US acknowledged human activity was a major cause. Richest regions Economics rather than the environment or politics was the focus of the summit,...

The United States hopes to formalize an agreement with China to increase air travel between the nations. BEIJING -- (AP) -- The United States is discussing a deal with China to liberalize air travel and hopes for a framework ''open skies'' agreement by May, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday. Washington hopes to produce a formal agreement by the end of this year, said Peters, who was in Beijing to discuss the possible agreement with Chinese officials. ''We want to at least have the basic framework in place by May,'' Peters said. The number of airline flights between...

Two years ago Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, mocked the idea of launching a low-cost international airline, but now he is proposing £7 flights to New York. What has changed is the agreement between Europe and the United States last month to liberalise air travel. The “open skies” agreement will allow any airline to fly from anywhere in Europe to anywhere in the US, giving low-cost carriers the flexibility needed to launch services capable of challenging entrenched incumbents such as British Airways and American Airlines. The “open skies” deal caught airlines off-guard. The industry had assumed that it...

Ryanair intends to launch a no-frills long-haul airline around the turn of the decade serving five or six US cities from its 23 European bases and offering fares as low as $12. The no-frills carrier will operate independently of Ryanair and buy a fleet of up to 50 Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s at a time when chief executive Michael O'Leary expects prices to dip following the current surge in orders. There has long been speculation that Ryanair will enter the long-haul market, but this is the first time O'Leary has outlined concrete plans. In an exclusive interview to be...

The Open Skies agreement between America and Europe has been hailed by airlines that see expansion opportunites outside their home continent. But airline unions see a threat to jobs. "Airlines need greater commercial freedom to run their businesses as real businesses," said Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of the International Air Transport Association. The Bush administration said Open Skies will create jobs, and United Airlines hailed the agreement, seeing expansion opportunity in Europe. Greg Davidowitch, president of the United Airlines master executive committee of the Association of Flight Attendants, disagrees. "These benefits are ambiguous, tenuous and will be short-lived at best," he...

The U.S. and European Union have reached a tentative agreement that would give airlines greater freedom to choose trans-Atlantic routes and potentially lead to lower fares, the government announced Friday. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said the agreement "will offer more choice and convenience to American consumers." While details of the pact were not released, it is intended to allow European airlines to fly from anywhere in the EU to any point in the U.S., and vice versa, while shedding rules that restrict how much carriers are allowed to charge fliers. EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said he would ask...

PARIS, May 2 -- The United States, facing strong domestic opposition to new rules that would permit European airlines a greater role in the management of American carriers they invest in, will delay the new regulations, officials involved in the negotiations said Tuesday. As a result, a European Union spokesman said, the union will not move forward this year with a landmark "open skies" agreement that probably would have led to lower air fares and new routes across the North Atlantic during this summer and autumn. Although the open skies agreement was reached months ago, the European Union has withheld...

'Open skies' air treaty threat · Draft pact curbs UK power to fight global warming · Restricting night flights would need US approval Andrew Clark, transport correspondent Monday February 20, 2006 Guardian Britain could lose its ability to impose environmental taxes, restrictions and safeguards on airlines under a draft treaty between the EU and US which curtails the power of national governments. The draft treaty, meant to liberalise aviation, includes a little noticed clause requiring EU states to reach agreement with each other and with the US before taking measures to tackle noise or pollution from airlines. The text of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union reached a tentative deal on Friday to dramatically expand aviation service and boost competition on both sides of the Atlantic. Negotiators made substantial progress in the State Department-led talks this week on the breakthrough agreement, which must be reviewed by EU transport ministers, who will meet next month. Europe is conditioning approval on a crucial side issue -- the U.S. proposal to ease some limits on foreign investment in American carriers. European negotiators first want to ensure the Transportation Department plan is finalized and that it would facilitate greater investment...

BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The European Union Commission Tuesday formally called on European governments to renounce their bilateral air treaties with the U.S.