Airlines
Europe Accuses U.S. of Breaching Open Skies Pact
Case of Norwegian Air International set for arbitration
Norwegian applied to fly Boeing 787s from Europe to the U.S. under an Irish operators' license in 2014. (Photo: Norwegian Air Shuttle)
Norwegian applied to fly Boeing 787s from Europe to the U.S. under an Irish operators' license in 2014. (Photo: Norwegian Air Shuttle)

The European Commission has formally notified U.S. authorities of its request for arbitration over a dispute centering on Norwegian Air International's application to fly to the U.S. from Europe, officially accusing Washington of breaching the EU-US Air Transport Agreement (ATA), or so-called Open Skies agreement. The Irish subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, which already flies to the U.S. under its Norwegian air operator certificate, applied for rights to fly to the States in December 2013. Under pressure from U.S. major airlines to deny the application due to what they consider NAI’s unfair labor practices, U.S. authorities have delayed issuing a foreign operators permit far beyond the customary timeframe, according to the EC.