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SINGAPORE: Singapore and the United Kingdom have concluded a landmark Open Skies Agreement (OSA) that effectively removes all restrictions on air services operated by carriers of both countries.
The Singapore-UK Open Skies Agreement is a wide-ranging one, which benefits Singapore significantly.
It is also an agreement that took many analysts, and even the Singapore Airlines (SIA), by surprise.
Under it, SIA can operate as many services as the Singapore-UK market can support.
It can also pick up passengers from London's Heathrow Airport and fly them to other cities, including those in the United States.
The comprehensive agreement even allows SIA to operate like a domestic carrier in the UK and mount any number of services between UK cities.
Similarly, UK carriers will be able to operate any number of services beyond Singapore to any city in the world.
SIA, which is facing a capacity crunch, does not expect things to happen immediately, but says it still represents a wonderful opportunity.
The airline also took a dig at Australia, which has, so far, refused to allow SIA to fly the lucrative trans-pacific route to the US.
Stephen Forshaw, Vice-President of Public Affairs at SIA, said: "Let's look at the other one that's close to our hearts – the rights between Australia and the US. I think this agreement sends a very clear signal that protection of home carriers is no longer in the public interest.
"The UK government has been protecting British Airways on the lucrative London-New York route for decades and they've now seen that it's not in the public interest to do that anymore. If the UK can do it, surely Australia can do it as well."
The OSA, which will be effective from the end of March next year, comes nearly 20 years after Singapore first made its request to the UK.
The deal is seen as more liberal than a conventional Open Skies Agreement, and it has been hailed by analysts as a possible template for negotiating other liberal agreements.
Nicholas Ionides, Regional Managing Editor of Flight Magazine, said: "I think it's a very important first step. I think the Singapore government can go in and say 'look, if the UK can do it, more people should do it' and I think it really is a first big step for others around the world to follow suit."
The landmark agreement is the first of its kind for the UK, and the second for Singapore, which already has a similar unrestricted OSA with the United Arab Emirates.
- CNA/so
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