EU Following Example of United States to Sign Agreement on Air Transport Liberalization with Azerbaijan

The negotiations in the framework of aviation agreements Open Skies between Azerbaijan and the European Union are moving into action.

As stated today to journalists the EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan Malena Mard, the parties are ready to prepare an agreement on the general aviation area, which will increase competition in the aviation sector. "Now we are working on an agreement on strategic partnership, and it will be continued within the EU structures. We expect that in the early autumn there will be a series of meetings at the subcommittee level, during which we will have an opportunity to discuss all the issues of interaction. The first meetings will begin in early September - there will be very intense autumn contacts between the EU and Azerbaijan," she said.

Recall April 6, President of CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) Jahangir Asgarov and US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Robert Cekuta signed a document on the "open skies" for the liberalization of the air transport market between the two countries, which already allows simplifying the process of organizing air communication and will promote the growth of the number of commercial flights. Such agreements provide for the elimination of state interference in business decisions on routes and pricing of the airlines, which allows operators to provide more accessible and efficient services for passenger and cargo services.

In August 2014 due to the improvement of the regulatory framework of civil aviation of Azerbaijan US Federal Aviation Administration awarded the country the highest level of security - category A, which allowed AZAL to launch direct flights Baku - New York and back, carried out from September 23, 2014 twice a week with Boeing-787-8 Dreamliner modern aircraft. --17D-