Air doesn’t belong to anybody. At least this is what one would assume. Quite the opposite is the case, though. In fact, transatlantic air travel as we know it today is only possible thanks to a number of international agreements.

Despite these agreements, the U.S. and Europe appear to face headwinds in view of current challenges to the established world order and the transatlantic relationship. How will these factors affect the future of transatlantic air travel? On November 27, 2018, a panel hosted by the Austrian Ambassador Wolfgang Waldner discussed exactly this question, featuring Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation Hon. David Short, Vice President for the Americas region at Lufthansa Group Airlines Tamur Goudarzi-Pour, as well as James Bradbury, Counselor for Transport & Energy at the EU Delegation in Washington, DC. The panel was moderated by Frances G. Burwell, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.

While the transatlantic economic partnership is the strongest and deepest trade and investment relationship in the world based on shared fundamental values of freedom, democracy and human rights, the EU-U.S. Open Skies Agreement has been the cornerstone of international travel, trade and connectivity for more than 10 years.

In context of current challenges to the established world order, multilateralism and the transatlantic relationship appear to face headwinds both in the U.S. and in Europe. The panelists drew on their first-hand experience to examine and assess the present state of transatlantic relations in the aviation sector and discussed future prospects against the background of the final phase of the Brexit negotiations and other contemporary challenges.

This event was organized with the generous support of Austrian Airlines, a sponsor and partner of the Embassy of Austria during the Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018

More photos of this event on flickr

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