Local and regional airports in the US are calling on their government to open consultations with Qatar and the UAE to address the $42 billion in subsidies that they allege the Gulf nations have provided to their state-owned airlines.

The airports union claims that the Gulf carriers have violated the Open Skies policy and is threatening hundreds of thousands of American jobs.  

In their letters to the US Secretaries of the Transportation, airports are urging the government to address the important issue of unfair subsidies, which, if allowed to continue, will result in the US carriers losing their ability to serve small and medium-size markets across the country and lead to devastating consequences for local airports, businesses and communities.

Dan Mann, executive director of Columbia Metropolitan Airport (Columbia, SC), wrote: “If allowed to continue, this will lead to service cuts to both regional and international airports, as many domestic routes serve as feeders for larger, more profitable flights to international destinations, ultimately resulting in substantial job losses throughout the country in a variety of different sectors.”

Robert Selig, president and CEO of the Capital Region Airport Authority (Lansing, MI) said: “I can see first-hand the effects that an unfair playing field has on the US carriers. The employees that depend on a healthy airline industry are not limited to airline workers; rental car employees, hotel, taxi and restaurant employees also depend on the influx of passengers through our region.”

The support of these local and regional airports adds to the rapidly growing list of supporters, which already includes 262 members of the US House of Representatives; 21 US senators; the US Conference of Mayors, representing 1,400 mayors across the country; and dozens of local business, trade and economic groups.

The Partnership for Open & Fair Skies urges the US government to open bilateral consultations with Qatar and the UAE and enforce US trade policy. – TradeArabia News Service