LV lobbies for new European air service

For months prospects of direct nonstop flights between Las Vegas and London have been dead. Today, there is a glimmer of hope.

The United Kingdom Transport Ministry's request of the U.S. Department of Transportation to reopen talks on an "open skies" agreement could be a breakthrough, Harry Kassap, manager of air service development at McCarran International Airport, said.

But he added that the United States is still a long way from signing an agreement that could ultimately lead to flights between McCarran and London's two major airports.

London is considered the premiere European gateway just as Tokyo is considered a top port into Asia because the cities offer so many connecting flights to other population centers on their respective continents. In addition, Las Vegas already has made contact with an airline that wants to fly from London to McCarran.

The British government agreed Wednesday to allow Federal Express Corp. and other U.S. cargo carriers the right to fly to Scotland, pick up freight and travel on to continental Europe.

Great Britain is hoping U.S. transportation officials will reciprocate for British carriers flying to the United States.

Their hope is that the new agreements will lead to talks for an open-skies agreement -- a pact that would allow airlines from either country the ability to fly to any of the other country's airports where landing slots are available.

Presently, aviation commerce between the United States and Great Britain is dictated by a bilateral agreement that limits the number of flights between the two countries and distributes them among four airlines.

The United States walked out of the last set of open-skies talks because U.S. officials felt British Airways, that nation's largest carrier, was seeking too many competitive advantages within the pact.

"It's mind-boggling that with one of our great trading partners and NATO allies we can't do anything on aviation," Kassap said. "We have this restrictive bilateral agreement that ties our hands on the local level."

Kassap said he and representatives of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and affected airlines take advantage of every opportunity to lobby the transportation and state departments of both governments to get talks back on track.

Las Vegas is one of the cities suffering the most while the two governments haggle over details. Kassap said Las Vegas already has courted an airline that wants to provide direct nonstop service between London and Las Vegas -- upstart Virgin Atlantic.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are bitter rivals. Virgin Atlantic, owned by billionaire Richard Branson, is frequently critical of the British government as well as their rivals, whose strategic alignment with American Airlines also is being held up by the lack of an agreement.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Transportation dismissed American's bid for a cooperative agreement with British Airways. Kassap said Las Vegas has kept in touch with Virgin Atlantic.

"We've had the commitment (for flights) from Virgin Atlantic," Kassap said. "We continue to maintain contact with them to make sure they're still interested in us, and they are."

There's a vast difference in the status of flights to London and flights to its Asian counterpart, Tokyo.

Kassap said McCarran officials are excited about Japan Airlines' announcement Thursday that it will add a fifth weekly direct flight between Tokyo and Las Vegas. In addition, Northwest Airlines confirmed Thursday that it is adding a third weekly flight.

Northwest said its new flight is a seasonal addition that will operate Sundays from Oct. 31 to April 1. That means there will be eight flights a week between Tokyo and Las Vegas -- more than 13,000 seats a month for five months destined for the city's resorts.

That means there will be two Tokyo flights arriving in Las Vegas on Sundays beginning Oct. 31.

Because negotiations with Britain haven't been going anywhere, Kassap said Las Vegas has increased its contacts with other airlines and other European gateways.

In the forefront are talks with two French airlines for direct service between Las Vegas and Paris. City officials also are talking with Air Europe about linking Las Vegas to its headquarters in Milan, Italy. Kassap said Las Vegas hasn't marketed France and Italy as much as Great Britain and Germany. He called them "growing, promising markets."

Condor, a German airline, offers two flights a week between Las Vegas and Germany, one round trip each to Cologne and Frankfurt.

Kassap said there are a number of incentives to get talks with Britain back on track, including the British Airways-American Airlines strategic alliance and the U.S. Department of Transportation's review of British Airways' service to Denver, which is coming up for renewal.

Kassap said he doubts the Department of Transportation would hold the renewal up to force Britain back to negotiations.

"We want to see the relationship liberalized," Kassap said. "For British Airways, status quo is acceptable. For us, every day that we wait hurts the whole city."

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