US, UK sign civil air transport agreement

The United States and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have signed a civil air transport agreement.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Tuesday November 17, 2020.

According to the statement, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao signed the agreement for the US on November 10 in Washington.

“The UK State Secretary for Transport Grant Shapps signed on behalf of the UK, completing the process for signature of the agreement,” the statement reads

“The agreement includes all of the essential elements of Open Skies, such as unrestricted capacity and frequency, open routes, open code-sharing opportunities, a liberal charter regime, and market-determined pricing.

“The agreement also provides expanded seventh-freedom traffic rights for all-cargo carriers and full market access to the UK’s overseas territories and crown dependencies,” the statement says.

“Pending the agreement’s entry into force via an exchange of diplomatic notes, both sides are prepared to apply its terms on the basis of comity and reciprocity as soon as the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement no longer applies to the United Kingdom,” it adds.