Colombia and the U.S. reach a “open skies” aviation agreement, which aims to encourage air traffic between the countries and ensure fair competition in the industry, Portafolio reported Thursday.
“It was a very productive agreement for both countries, we gradually reached an agreement that enables the implementation of open skies with the U.S.,” said Colombia’s Director of Aerocivil Santiago Castro.
Countries pursue open skies agreements with other nations in order to foster fair competition between the nations’ airlines. Some common provisions of an open sky agreement are: free competition without government intervention, cooperative marketing arrangements between airlines (e.g., code share agreements), guarantees of safety and security, and dispute resolution guidelines.
The agreement, which wil take effect in 2012, will open 42 new flight routs between the countries, reports La FM. Airlines from both countries will be free to fly on any of these routs.
Currently there are approximately 200 weekly flights between Colombia and the U.S.
