Ukraine and the European Union initialed the Agreement on Common Aviation Area at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius (Lithuania) on November 28, reports ZN.ua.
"The Agreement reached in Vilnius today will allow the EU and Ukraine to become partners in aviation through gradual market integration," said European Commission Vice President Siim Kallas.
The agreement stipulates that all EU airlines will be able to operate direct flights to Ukraine from anywhere in the EU from the IATA summer scheduling season 2015 (from March 31) and that the same will apply to Ukrainian airlines. All limitations on weekly flights between Ukraine and the EU will also be removed.
“Air transport for passengers as well as for cargo between Ukraine and the EU has been growing steadily in recent years. The Agreement aims to gradually open the respective aviation markets and integrate Ukraine into a wider European common aviation area,” the European Commission said.
To attain these objectives, Ukraine will have to align its legislation with EU aviation standards and enforce EU requirements in areas such as aviation safety, air traffic management, security, environment, economic regulation, competition, consumer protection, and social aspects, the commission said.
The negotiations on the agreement on a Common Aviation Area between Ukraine and the European Union started in December 2007. According to the “Plan on Priority Measures for European Integration of Ukraine for 2013,” these negotiations should be completed before the end of this year.
It is unknown when the agreement will be signed.
As reported, a summit of the Eastern Partnership began in Vilnius (Lithuania) on November 28 and will continue until November 29. The summit is attended by the leaderships of 28 member countries of the EU and the member countries of the Eastern Partnership (Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Moldova).
As the CTS portal wrote earlier, the Eurasian Economic Commission has said that a “Common Eurasian Sky" may be created by 2025 and that experts are currently preparing the relevant roadmap. Expansion of air services – to the extent of full liberalization – will begin within the Common Economic Area (CEA), which consists of Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Russia.
According to the plans of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the "common sky" will be created in several stages. A package of the relevant policy documents will be drafted, approved, and adopted by 2015. Harmonization of the three countries’ legislation and creation of a joint air control system will begin five years later. Harmonization of the legislative and regulatory frameworks of the three countries will be completed during the period of 2020-2025, and carriers from these countries will have open access to each other’s national markets.
