Australia/US Bilateral Dispute

Deadline Nears on Contentious Us Accord

A showdown is nearing over the Australia-US aviation accord.

In June both sides agreed to shelve their dispute until year’s end. Now, with a third round of talks scheduled for late November, negotiators are anxious that, without a settlement, the new year could bring an ugly return of sanction threats. (Refer Stop Press for last minute update. ) The current dispute centres on the North Pacific route, which has been contentious ever since it was added to the bilateral in 1989. Canberra does not contest the right of Northwest and United Airlines, the only US carriers with rights beyond Japan, to fly from Japan to Australia so long as they only carry third and fourth freedom traffic, ie, passengers and freight originating in Australia or the US. This dispute is over fifth freedom traffic, passengers and freight carried only between Japan and Australia. Qantas has suspected all along that the only reason US carriers want the route is its lucrative fifth freedom traffic.

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