by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 6:51 PM ET, Wed February 15, 2023
JetBlue Airways has filed a complaint under the open skies agreement against the government of the Netherlands.
In a filing submitted to the US Department of Transportation, the airline alleges that the government of the Netherlands has continually denied JetBlue's requests to be allowed to provide service to Amsterdam's Schipol Airport.
JetBlue claims in the complaint that the actions of the Netherlands government are "in violation of its obligations under the U.S.-EU. Open Skies Air Transport Agreement by failing to ensure JetBlue is provided all operating authorizations, including slots, required to conduct international air transportation at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), the primary international airport in the Netherlands and third largest in the world."
Open Skies Agreements are bilateral or multilateral agreements between the United States government and the governments of other countries. Open Skies agreements are designed to eliminate government interference in the commercial decisions of air carriers with regard to such things as routes, capacity, and pricing, according to the U.S. Department of State.
As part of this agreement, airlines are allowed to operate an unlimited number of flights between the U.S. and the E.U. However, in order to do this, airlines need to obtain landing and take-off rights at airports.
JetBlue asserts in its complaint that the conduct of the Netherlands government violates open skies rules prohibiting a foreign government or entity from engaging in activity that is "an unjustifiable or unreasonable discriminatory, predatory, or anticompetitive practice against an air carrier."
The New York-based carrier also asks the United States government to confiscate slots from Dutch carrier KLM in response.
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. (photo via VanderWolf-Images / iStock Editorial / Getty Images Plus)JetBlue is seeking to offer flights to Amsterdam from JFK International and Boston's Logan airport. The airline says in its complaint that it has made numerous requests for permission to operate flights between the East Coast and Amsterdam.
The complaint filed by JetBlue says the government of the Netherlands has refused to make the slots available to JetBlue because of an ongoing noise reduction plan that has included a drastic reduction in the annual flight movements at the Amsterdam airport.
As part of that plan, the slot coordinator for Amsterdam's airport has retired slots that would otherwise be made available for new entrants at the airport and has "construed EU Slot Regulation" in a manner that forecloses the possibility of a new entrant gaining access to the airport," says the JetBlue complaint.
JetBlue kicked off its transatlantic flight offerings in 2021 with flights to London.
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