Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan and the U.S. intend to liberalize the air transport market with a view to simplify the process of organizing flights between the two countries.

President of Azerbaijan Airlines Jahangir Asgarov and U.S. Ambassador to Baku Robert Cekuta signed an Open Skies Agreement for liberalization of air transport, which will also contribute to increasing the number of commercial flights between the two states.

Open Skies Agreement envisages elimination of state interference in commercial decisions about the airlines’ routes and pricing, which enables operators to provide more accessible and efficient services for passenger and cargo services.

AZAL’s Vice -President Arif Mammadov told local media that the agreement will allow airlines of both countries to work freely in the territory of each other, adding that it lifts all possible restrictions that exist in civil aviation between the two countries.

"AZAL, for example, will have the right to receive in the U.S. the passengers traveling to any third country, as well as the goods addressed to any third country, the right to disembark passengers and unload cargo directed from any area in the U.S., while the U.S. companies that will come to Azerbaijan will be able to offer their services and work here on a free basis," Mammadov explained.

He further added that the work on this agreement has been conducted for more than four years.

"There were many obstacles and controversies, as well as demands of both sides," said Mammadov. "The fact is that the U.S. has similar agreements with 127 countries, and they did not want to do any exceptions for us."

“The will of aviation structures and governments of the two countries contributed to the signing of the document, and we have ensured that the interests of our central bodies were taken into account,” he said.

Earlier, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ranked the country the highest level of security - "A" category due to the improvement of the regulatory framework of Azerbaijan civil aviation.

This enabled the launch of direct flights between the two countries. Regular AZAL flights from Baku to New York have run since September 23, 2014 twice a week by Boeing-787-8 Dreamliner modern aircraft.

Direct flights to New York have become the first flight from South Caucasus to North America, which strengthened the status of AZAL as a regional leader in the air passenger transportation.

Azerbaijan Airlines is a major air carrier and one of the leaders of the aviation community of CIS countries. AZAL with the newest airplane fleets, consisting of 25 airplanes, does not have a single old plane.

The total route network of AZAL, one of the aviation community leaders in the CIS area, includes 40 destinations in 19 countries.

Being an important member of the International Civil Aviation Organization Council, for its services AZAL received a prestigious "4 Stars" from the leader in air transport research, the world-famous British consulting company Skytrax last June.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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