Singapore minister wants open skies agreement with Australia

Airline Industry Information, Feb 16, 2005

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Singapore's transport minister Yeo Cheow Tong thinks that Australia should allow Singapore Airlines to operate the Australia-US route.

The minister, who has met with his Australian counterpart John Anderson in Canberra, Australia, to discuss the matter, said that such a move would increase traffic on the route and reduce the fares. While Australia's Qantas currently only shares the rights to the route with US-based United Airlines, an open skies agreement between the two countries would allow Singapore Airlines to compete on routes between Australia and the US.

Anderson has tied the option for an agreement with Singapore to success in getting better access to European destinations for Qantas, as the airline would like to expand its services to Europe via more stopovers in Singapore, The Associated Press reported.

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