Non-member countries look to join US-EU Open Skies

Countries from outside the European Union are seeking to join the US-EU Open Skies pact that takes effect in March 2008.

Daniel Calleja, the EU Commission's director for air transport says "already, third-country nations are knocking at the door and want to join this agreement". Former US Transport Secretary Norm Mineta adds: "Other countries are ready to join" the pact.

Likely candidates are Iceland and Norway, neither of them EU members but parties to the European Common Aviation Area, and potential new EU members such as Croatia and Turkey. Leo Schefer, the Washington Airports Task Force president, says ­Canada could also potentially join the Open Skies deal: "I think Canada is an important probable (applicant) and then, as the results begin to sink in, we will see a wave of interest from other major trading countries."

Schefer add that as other nations join India and Japan "may begin to feel left out".

Source: Airline Business