The open skies agreement between the EU and the US is ‘just cosmetics’, according to Advantage director business travel Norman Gage.
“It will make little difference, other than for Sir Michael (bmi chief executive), as the airport is saturated anyway,” he said.
“I have already heard UK airlines saying they will take advantage of it to fly out of Amsterdam, Zurich and Paris. It’s turning a negative into a positive.”
Gage said competition is already fierce in economy cabins on transatlantic routes.
“I think it will eventually bring the price of travel down, but there is already a price war at the back of the bus. If British Airways and Virgin can’t fill the seats, what chance has a start up airline got of surviving?” he said.
“While it looks good on paper, it doesn’t always work out.
“I think those that have got something to gain are trying to talk the situation up, but the rest of us are being more realistic.
“If you take bmi, they are all for it because they have got the slots [at Heathrow], but we have seen in the past that they often don’t give new services a chance to mature – take India for example. The travel agents have cottoned on to this and it makes us nervous when a new route starts.”
By Bev Fearis
