The issue of the status of Gibraltar, which is the official reason for the delay in signing the agreement on establishment of a Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the European Union, remained unresolved after Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarskyi’s visit to Spain, avianews.com reports.
Spain’s Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Ignacio Ibanez said that the Spanish side was open to dialogue and that it was interested in signing the agreement on a Common Aviation Area.
To resolve this contentious issue, he proposed that Pyvovarskyi hold consultations with the United Kingdom and the European Commission, the Ministry of Infrastructure said.
The agreement on establishment of a Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the European Union was initialed in Vilnius in November 2013. It was scheduled for signing in March 2014, but it was not signed.
The official reason for the delay in signing it is failure to agree the positions of Spain and the United Kingdom on the dispute over sovereignty over the territory in which the Gibraltar airport is situated.
The multi-page agreement provides for bringing the Ukrainian aviation industry up to European standards, with the market of air travel between the European Union and Ukraine fully liberalized over several stages.
As avianews.com previously reported, the agreement grants preferential treatment to European airlines. In case of its full implementation, European airlines will have the right to operate flights within Ukraine while Ukrainian airlines will not have the opportunity to fly between cities of the European Union.
