The United States is not in favour of offering Ireland a special transitional deal to protect Shannon, the head of its negotiating team on the "open skies" talks signalled yesterday.
John Byerly, the US deputy assistant secretary on transportation affairs, said removing the Shannon stopover would be good for consumers and Aer Lingus.
Shannon relies on a rule forcing 50 per cent of all transatlantic flights to land at the airport The regulation boosts the airport's revenues and it is feared that the Shannon region will face economic difficulties when it is abolished.
"The sooner it ends, the better for consumers," said Mr Byerly, who was in Brussels this week for talks on opening the EU and US airline markets to far greater competition. "We welcome an opportunity to lift the current restrictions on services, which serve as a deterrent to flying to Dublin," he added.
Mr Byerly made his comments in a briefing during which he revealed that the US and EU have reached agreement on key elements of a first stage deal on open skies - the name given to talks aimed at liberalising the US and EU airline markets.
He said full agreement had been reached on co-operation with respect to competition issues in the air transport industry based on continuous and structured dialogue on government subsidies and support. Good progress was also made on security and environmental matters in seeking compatible approaches in the EU and US, he said.
Mr Byerly said that he thought an open skies deal could be reached and implemented within months rather than years.
When asked specifically about whether a transitional period for Shannon would be available under the agreement, he said it was the US preference that the Shannon stopover ceased when an open skies deal was introduced.
He said the timeframe between signing a deal and implementing it could act as a transitional period. He also stressed the importance of an open skies deal for Aer Lingus, which would benefit from opening new routes to the US.
The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, said last week that Ireland would press other EU ministers to push for an open skies agreement with the US. He said there was no doubt that a deal would boost the valuation of Aer Lingus, which is expected to seek a stock market listing shortly to rise new equity to buy additional planes.
But Mr Cullen hopes Ireland can secure a transitional period for Shannon. Earlier this week Irish and US officials met in Brussels to discuss the status of Shannon. However these did not form part of the open skies talks.
The Government is expected to step up its efforts to persuade the US to agree a "transitional period" when the open skies discussions resume on November 14th.
