WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- The United States and Japan have reached agreement on the text of a landmark Open Skies aviation agreement, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood says.
In an announcement issued Friday, LaHood said the long-sought deal -- reached after five rounds of negotiations stretching back to May -- is meant to liberalize U.S.-Japan air services for the carriers of both countries.
"Achieving Open Skies with Japan, a major U.S. transportation and trade partner, has been a long-standing U.S. goal and is good news for air travelers and businesses on both sides of the Pacific," LaHood said.
U.S. officials said the agreement will allow airlines from both countries to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand and without limitations on the number of U.S. or Japanese carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate. It also would remove restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provide unlimited opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements, including code-sharing, between U.S. and Japanese carriers.
The deal is likely to prompt far-reaching alliances among the two countries' major airlines, The Wall Street Journal said.
