Open Skies - Europe and US

On March 30, 2008 the Open Skies agreement between Europe and the US went into effect. This essentially allows airlines based in the United States and Europe to fly between any two airports in each region. Before Open Skies, US airlines and European ones were required to take off or land in their native countries. Airlines were also limited regarding airports in that not all airlines were given slots to airports they'd want to fly to.

At the top of the list of airports that airlines had been shut out of is London Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, and a lucrative route for airlines around the world in general. With Open Skies, there is more access to this already crowded airport. Of the US based airlines, only American Airlines and United Airlines had access to Heathrow. So don't be surprised to hear of several airlines introducing Heathrow to their list of new routes.

But what will Open Skies do for the average passenger? Here are a few possibilities:

• More routes to Europe.
• Increased competition and therefore the possibility of lower airfares.
• More European airlines serving the US. Because several European airlines fare better in customer service rankings, perhaps better customer service might be a positive offshoot of the agreement.
• More service to London Heathrow Airport (with lots of announcements of new services to this airport already).
• More direct flights between Europe and the US.

It isn't guaranteed that all things positive will come from the Open Skies agreement, but certainly there is at least the possibility of saving time with more flights, and non-stop flight options, and potentially lower airfares with competition allowed to flow more freely.