The “open skies agreement” goes into effect on March 30. This agreement will let airlines based in Europe and the US to fly between any two airports in each location.
An example is the agreement that American and United were the only two US carriers allowed to land at Heathrow; other airlines landed at, for example, Gatwick and passengers had to get from Gatwick to Heathrow via ground transportation for connecting flights on to Europe, Africa, or the Middle East - and those connecting flights were not allowed to take off from Gatwick.
This new agreement may create more competition, which may - in time - lower fares. Wait for the price of fuel to drop, though. The more likely occurrence for the next year at least is more convenience in getting from your airport to Europe, but it’s likely that these new routes will take months to kick in.
For tips on how the open skies agreement will affect you, see this Mercury News article.
3 months ago