Abu Dhabi: Several months after German officials offered to restart negotiations over the country’s air services agreement with the UAE, both parties are yet to meet to talk over the matter, according to a spokesman from the German embassy at the UAE.
Air services agreements allow airlines to operate commercial services between two countries. Under the agreements currently in place between the UAE and Germany, UAE-based airlines such as Etihad Airways and Emirates can fly to multiple German cities but not Berlin.
Asked about updates on whether Etihad and Emirates may be allowed to fly to the capital, Tilman Enders, deputy head of Germany’s mission to the UAE, said, “That would require new negotiations, which we have actually offered way back in August, but the idea was not picked up. I think it’s too sensitive for me to tell you [who didn’t pick up the idea] because it is a very complicated issue, but you can deduct from what I said …
They said they offered to renegotiate and that they would make sure on their side that these negotiations would be done in the fastest possible manner, but no, [negotiations haven’t begun].”
Enders did not disclose details on where the negotiations (or lack thereof) were headed, describing the issue as a complicated process, but said, “One thing is for sure, which is that we, as the German government, are not interested in any kind of serious problems with our trade partners or any of our partners.”
Increasing trade and tourism
When contacted by Gulf News, Emirates declined to comment on the matter, saying the negotiations were on a government level rather than an individual airline level, while Etihad did not respond.
The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the federal body that regulates civil aviation in the country, did not comment directly on the offer to restart negotiations, but said, “The UAE and German civil aviation authorities have met various times, and the UAE GCAA has always been open to address code-share operations between Germany and the UAE.”
“The UAE and Germany already have a very liberal air transport agreement that is working for the benefit of the travelling public, and contributes to the increasing trade and tourism between the two countries,” GCAA said in a statement.
— With inputs from Alexander Cornwell, Staff Reporter
