BRITISHMidland chairman Sir Michael Bishop used last week’s Labour Party Conference to highlight his campaign for an open-skies agreement.
At a reception for MPs, including secretary of state for trade and industry Stephen Byers, he urged the Government to agree a new aviation deal with the US.
Commenting on chancellor Gordon Brown’s speech to conference, which outlined the Government’s aim to sweep aside cartels, Sir Michael said: “I do not want Britain to be lagging behind the rest of Europe in an industry where we have always been leaders.”
The key point of Sir Michael’s campaign for open skies is that business passengers pay significantly lower fares to the USfrom mainland Europe than from the UK.
He claims that the two UK and two US airlines flying from Heathrow to the US all charge the same business-class fare.