European Union Inks Aviation Agreement with Chile

The aviation agreement signed this week by the European Union and Chile is the first of its kind and allows all European airlines to fly between Chile and any EU Member State. The accord signed is an important step in the broader aviation relations between the EU and Chile.

Vice President Jacques Barrot in charge of transport policy, said the agreement recognizes that airlines in the EU are no longer national airlines but European airlines. “This is an important step in our external aviation policy,” he noted about the agreement signed by Vice President Jacques Barrot, UK Transport Secretary Alistair Darling as President of the Council, and Chilean Transport Minister Jaime Estevez in the margins of the Council of Transport Ministers in Luxembourg.

In the light of its terms, the pact removes nationality restrictions in the bilateral air services agreements between EU Member States and Chile and therefore allows any EU airline to operate flights between any EU Member State where it is established and Chile.

This agreement also acknowledges the existence of the single market for air transport between the EU and Chile. It demonstrates that there is an external dimension of the single market for air transport.