The open skies agreement between Qatar and the EU will mainly benefit Qatar Airways

It's been agreed and signed, but we've had to wait five years for it. It was in 2016 that the European Commission received a mandate to negotiate a "comprehensive air transport agreement" with Qatar.. Negotiations were concluded in 2019.

However, the dispute between Spain and the United Kingdom over the management of Gibraltar airport delayed the signing of the agreement by the European Union. Now that the UK has left, the Covid crisis seems more or less under control. The agreement was finally ratified this week..

The agreement thus replaces all the bilateral agreements signed by EU Member States with Qatar. In addition to the issue of traffic rights, the agreement provides a set of rules, a level playing field and a platform for future cooperation on a wide range of aviation-related issues (safety, security, air traffic management, etc.).

These include

• a fair competition clause between the EU and Qatar to avoid distortions of competition and abuses.
• transparency provisions to ensure full compliance with obligations.
• mechanisms for the rapid resolution of any dispute not resolved by a joint committee.
• provisions to make it easier for airlines to operate in the EU, in particular the abolition of the requirement for EU airlines to work through a local sponsor.

5th freedom rights excluded from the agreement

In theory, the agreement will enable EU and Qatari airlines to benefit in the long term from total open skies freedom with service to and from Qatar to any EU destination.

But in reality, it could be different. After all, the agreement lacks an important element: 5th freedom rights (i.e. to fly to a third country, such as Doha-Bordeaux-New York). These are not possible - with the exception of cargo. Only traditional flight rights are guaranteed for passenger routes from point A (EU) to point B (Qatar) and vice versa. The absence of these 5th freedom rights would therefore favour Qatar Airways over European airlines..

The agreement will certainly benefit passengers. It should result in a possible sharp increase in flights to and from Doha.

But he will primarily benefit Qatar Airways. Before the crisis, the carrier served 34 towns in the European Union. This October, the network has 25 stopovers in the EU. Despite this density, a handful of destinations are still missing. For example, only three cities are served in France (Paris, Lyon, Nice) and three in Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich). Not to mention Ljubljana, Luxembourg and Thessaloniki, which are not yet served...

On the European Union side, no EU-registered airline currently serves Qatar. At In 2017, KLM and Lufthansa suspended their flights to Doha. Because of insufficient occupancy rates. It is true that Qatar alone remains far too small a territory to generate significant direct air traffic. While Doha airport welcomed more than 35 million passengers in 2019, the number of visitors to Qatar reached 2.1 million.

There are no official figures published on the transfer trafficbut we can imagine that it represents more than 80% of total traffic of the airport. It is therefore unlikely that we will see a massive influx of EU carriers to Doha, except for the possibility of eventually having flights operated under 5th freedom rights.

Qatar Airways, presumed winner of the EU/Qatar open skies agreement

Almost all EU countries already have an open skies agreement with Qatar, there were still restrictions with some of the largest EU members - notably France, Italy and Germany. But also Belgium and the Netherlands. For these five countries, liberalisation will take place gradually. The agreement provides for the possibility of operating the following routes from the start of the 2021/22 IATA winter season :

• Belgium 24 weekly services between Qatar and Belgium.
• France 27 weekly services between Qatar and Paris; 14 weekly services between Qatar and Nice; 14 weekly services between Qatar and Lyon; 14 weekly services between Qatar and each of the other points in France. We are of course thinking of future openings in Marseille, Bordeaux or Toulouse, or even Basel/Mulhouse.
• Germany These include 21 weekly flights between Doha and Frankfurt, 21 weekly flights between Doha and Munich, and 14 weekly flights between Doha and each of the other points in Germany. Berlin is already served daily. But Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart are said to be at the top of the list for future openings.
• Italy 84 weekly flights between Qatar and Italy. Four cities are already in the Qatar Airways network (Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa, Pisa and Venice). Turin, Bologna, Naples and Sicily could also be added soon.
• Netherlands 14 weekly flights between Qatar and Amsterdam, and 14 weekly flights between Qatar and each of the other points in the Netherlands.

The agreement has every chance of leading to an increase in the number of aircraft flying the Qatar Airways colours throughout the European Union. If nothing else!