Deal to open US skies

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN

BRUNEI - New Zealand airlines will get full access to the valuable United States market when a historic open skies aviation agreement comes into play.

United States President Bill Clinton tipped the multilateral agreement between five Apec nations to be announced at the leaders' summit, which has begun in Brunei.

Speaking at the Apec business summit, Mr Clinton indicated the open skies deal was one prize which the beneficiaries could claim from the push for free market in trade and investment which Apec had been promoting.

Five nations are party to the open skies deal: the United States, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Brunei.

US negotiators told the Business Herald that 25 bilateral agreements would be wiped in the process. Typically, such agreements nail down exactly how many flights take place each week between the participating countries.

However the deal is largely symbolic, similar to the free trade agreement signed by Prime Minister Helen Clark with her Singapore counterpart, Premier Goh Chok Tong, this week. Its main purpose is to encourage other nations in the Asia-Pacific region to open their skies, in particular the 21 nations that belong to Apec.

"It will quickly be extended to other nations," said one negotiator.

New Zealand already has arrangements with the United States and Singapore that readily allow an increase in designated carriers and capacity.

Negotiators have been working on the agreement since last year but finalised the details during bilateral discussions in Brunei.

Herald Online feature: Apec