U.S. and Hong Kong (2005)

Time To Review U.S. Airline Caps on Foreign Capital, U.S. Says

But U.S.-EU aviation accord possible under existing authority

Following is the text of his remarks as prepared for delivery:

(begin text)

U.S. Department of Transportation

INTERNATIONAL AVIATION PRIORITIES

Remarks of Jeffrey N. Shane
Under Secretary for Policy
U.S. Department of Transportation

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
Aviation Symposium 2005

Phoenix, Arizona
April 27, 2005

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

Safety

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

With the help of a number of private sector partners, we have launched a similar program with China and hope to do the same elsewhere. We pursue these programs because we know that, no matter how many headlines new international services generate, those services will not succeed unless passengers and shippers can rely on the carriers, airports, and the air traffic control systems of multiple nations to function safely. It is very much in the interests of the United States to work with our partners to meet those expectations.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

International Aviation Liberalization

So we have been quite active. But it is in air services liberalization where we have been perhaps the busiest, and most successful. During his recent Asian trip, Secretary Mineta signed an open skies agreement with India, an agreement that has already spawned newly proposed services between our two countries. One U.S. airline has already announced its intention to launch daily nonstop service between the U.S. and India, which, if approved, would be the first such service in many years. During the same trip, Secretary Mineta reached agreement with leaders in Thailand and Hong Kong to renew bilateral negotiations intended to seek out a basis for further liberalization in those markets as well. The Hong Kong talks began in Washington this week.

The Secretary's Asian trip reminds us that the Open Skies model remains the keystone of U.S. international aviation policy. Indeed, the Bush Administration has entered into 13 open skies agreements with nations across the world in the past four years. In July 2004, we reached an agreement with China that, once fully phased in by 2010, will provide for a nearly five-fold increase in weekly flights between our countries over the next six years, to a total of 249 weekly flights. Although we hope that the Chinese will embrace a more thoroughgoing liberalization of the U.S.-China relationship soon, the 2004 protocol is a major step forward. That agreement, coupled with the Open Skies agreements that we have concluded with India and -- also in July 2004 -- with Indonesia, extends liberalized aviation regimes to 2.6 billion people.

The global economy is only as successful as the transportation networks that support it, and international aviation plays a critical role in making that economy work. Proof of this abounds. Although more cargo is shipped by sea or by surface transport than by air, fully 40 percent of global exports, by value, are shipped via aircraft. We have estimated that a single new daily B-777 roundtrip between the U.S. and China will produce a $158 million total annual benefit to the U.S. economy.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

(end text)