Cheap Flights from US to Europe

The new Open Skies Agreement between the United States and the European Union could see budget airlines flying from London and Paris to Baltimore and Providence.

New Dublin to Washington DC Route

Ordinarily, an announcement of a new airline route wouldn’t be all that exciting, but the new Aer Lingus route between Dublin, Republic of Ireland and Washington DC, the United States, could be hugely significant.

Open Skies Agreement

The Irish airline claims that the new route is the first direct result of the recent Open Skies Agreement between the European Union and the US. The agreement allows any European airline to fly to any US city from any European city, and conversely, any American airline to fly to any European city from anywhere in the US or Europe.

The effects of this ruling could be very interesting indeed. For a start, anti-competitive agreements that stop airlines using London Heathrow have now been thrown out of the window.

Increased competition on trans-Atlantic flights

More interestingly, however, the increased competition could lead to lower air fares for travellers, both in Europe and on trans-Atlantic flights. If, say, United Airlines were to start offering competition to British Airways on the London to Rome route or Iberia on the Madrid to Paris route, there could be a price war.

Cheap Flights from US to Europe

The agreement could also see cheaper flights to and from the US – and not just to the usual destinations (ie. New York and Los Angeles).

Irish budget airline Ryanair has already announced plans to create a trans-Atlantic airline. It won’t be in operation until 2010, but more unusual destination cities such as Baltimore and Providence, Rhode Island have already been mentioned as likely targets. If this happens, then the European and American budget airline markets could be about to merge – with some very interesting results. Fans of Urban Travel could well be in their element.