The European Union and the State of Qatar signed a comprehensive air transport agreement, upgrading rules and standards for flights between Qatar and the EU.
Article continues below
The agreement will facilitate people to people contacts and expand commercial opportunities and trade. Going beyond traffic rights, the EU Qatar agreement will provide a single set of rules, high standards and a platform for future cooperation on a wide range of aviation issues.
Qatar is a close aviation partner for the European Union; more than 6 million passengers travelled between the EU and Qatar per year under the existing 26 bilateral air transport agreements with EU Member States prior to the pandemic.
The agreement creates a level playing field that is expected to result in new air transport opportunities and economic benefits for both sides.
All EU airlines will be able to operate direct flights from any airport in the EU to Qatar and vice versa for Qatari airlines. EU airports in Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands will be subject to a gradual build up of capacity until 2024.
In 2016, the European Commission obtained authorisation from the Council to negotiate an EU level aviation agreement with Qatar, which started on 4 March 2019. While the agreement still needs to be ratified by the parties before formally entering into force, it will start being applied from October 18 signature.
Similar EU comprehensive air transport agreements have been signed with other partner countries, namely the United States, Canada, the Western Balkans, Morocco, Georgia, Jordan, Moldova, Israel and Ukraine. Further air transport agreements with Armenia and Tunisia are expected to be signed in the coming weeks. ■
The United States of America has been authorized to seize an Airbus A319-100 owned and controlled by sanctioned Russian oligarch Andrei Skoch, pursuant to a seizure warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which found that the airplane is subject to seizure and forfeiture based on probable cause of violation of the federal anti-money laundering laws.