Letter: US clouds in `open skies'

Sir: Does Matt Paxton (letter, 9 December) really believe for a moment that a level playing field exists, when an American carrier can fly into London and then on to a European Union market bigger than the United States, but a British carrier can only fly from the US to destinations such as Ottawa and Bogota?

The Germans were robbed in their "open skies" deal with the US. It may have been open skies for the Americans, but the door of the US domestic market has been slammed in Lufthansa's face.

If the British don't want to be duped into a similar deal it's about time we got off our nationalist high horse and allowed the European Commission to negotiate "open skies" from a position of strength, as is sensibly done with every other area of trade policy.

DINOS KYROU

Department of International Relations

University of Aberdeen