For the EU to accept the proposed Open Skies deal, every EU country gets an equal vote. Any country can veto the deal. Only one country looks likely to do this – the UK.
For some background, see this article. The UK's decision is being impacted by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic who do not want to see Heathrow opened up to new entrants.
This is of course no surprise. What is interesting is that up to now the US has been blamed for the lack of a deal. Foreign ownership rules of US airlines has been a big sticking point. But the US may have called the EU's bluff. By offering the deal, the US has exposed the EU position as flawed because the UK cannot or will not give up its lock on Heathrow.
The US could pile on a bit more by giving Virgin America its operating certificate to mollify Virgin Atlantic. That could work and expose British Airways as the sole holdout. Its funny how the deal was worked so far. Nobody we know of predicted this outcome. This is becoming a very interesting process. Provided it keeps moving forward of course. One has to wonder what British Airways wants to acquiesce.
