Opening the skies between the U.S. and Europe

The recent announcement that Air France (www.airfrance.us or (800) 237-2747) will start up new twice-daily service this spring from New York to London seems, on the face of it, to be one of the first truly notable benefits of the new "open skies" U.S./European Union Air Transport Agreement.

This imperfect, but hard-won historic accord allows for full and free competition in air traffic between the U.S. and the European Union and, among other advantages, affords European airlines the same rights to connect any two European and American cities that U.S. airlines have long held through a patchwork of individual bilateral agreements.

Up to now, Air France, for example, could only fly to the U.S. from France whereas, say, American Airlines (www.aa.com or (800) 433-7300) could fly from the U.S. to anywhere in Europe.

Yet on closer reading it turns out to be not quite the French revolution of the airways that it appears at first glance. We are in fact merely talking about a new code-share arrangement that allows Air France to get deeper into bed with a favorite SkyTeam partner and slap its name on the tail of Delta Air Lines (www.delta.com or (800) 221-1212). Delta will actually be doing all the hard work of flying and plying -- and Frenching, in a manner of speaking -- the transatlantic travelers.

It does signify a loosening of the stranglehold on London Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, where slots for transatlantic traffic have long been restricted to only two U.S. airlines -- United Airlines (www.united.com or (800) 864-8331) and American -- along with British Airways (www.britishairways.com or (800) 247-9297) and Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.com or (800) 821-5438), plus a couple of smaller "third-party" players such as Air India (www.airindia.com or (800) 223-7776) and Kuwait Airways (www.kuwait-airways.com or (800) 458-9248).

Greater and more liberal access to Heathrow was actually one of the most contested points of this comprehensive treaty, with the United Kingdom and incumbent airlines balking at the prospect of increased competition and the lapse of long-held privileges, which looks especially likely to slaughter British Airways' North Atlantic cash cow.

Courtesy of Air France slots, and thanks to its intimate partnership, Delta now finally secures these coveted Heathrow landing rights. They weren't part of the bargain when it bought the New York-London route from United last year, allowing it to launch these new flights, presumably in addition to its existing Gatwick service.

EOS to add Newark-London, JFK-Paris

If you've ever flown on EOS (www.eosairlines.com or (800) 458-1277), you know it's hard to go back to business class, or even first class, on any other airline.

So it's good news that it is adding new routes in 2008. We're just sorry that it doesn't fly everywhere (and that we're not rich enough to fly it everywhere). Service from Newark to London begins in the spring, and JFK to Paris in the fall, so we'll have to wait a bit.

Many airlines now fly with fully flat bed seats and some, such as Singapore Airlines (www.singaporeair.com or (800) 742-3333) and Jet Airways (www.jetairways.com or (877) 835-9538), are adding first class semi-enclosed "capsules" with enormous amounts of privacy and room.

But the difference with EOS is that there are only a maximum of 48 passengers on each plane, and everyone is treated to the same high level of service. It's more like a private jet than anything else. Getting on and off the plane is a breeze, and everyone has the same large amount of personal space, more so if the plane isn't full.

Plus, navigating London's Stansted Airport, where EOS lands, is just much easier to deal with than Heathrow. So lets hope EOS will fly from Chicago in the future and save us a trek over New York or Newark.

Get bonus miles to London on United

United Airlines' Mileage Plus members can now earn bonus miles when purchasing and flying United round-trips between the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands and London Heathrow.

A round trip on United First will net you 7,500 bonus miles (F, P, A booking class); 5,000 miles for business class (C and D booking class); 3,000 miles for business class in Z booking class or economy Y, B, M and H booking class; and 1,500 miles for economy Q, V, W, and S booking class.

All travel must completed before March 8. Other restrictions may apply.

You'll need to register in order to qualify for this promotion. To do so, visit www.mileageplus.com, click on Promotions, and select Airlines.

Reach George Hobica athobica@gmail.com, Kim LiangTan at KimLiangTan@aol.comor log on to www.airfarewatchdog.com.