BOGOTA, Colombia – US Embassy Bogota Chargé d’Affaires Francisco Palmieri and Colombian vice president and minister of foreign affairs Marta Lucía Ramírez signed a protocol of amendment to the 2011 US-Colombia Air Transport Agreement (the ATA) in Bogota, the US department of state, announced in a press release.
“The amendment adds seventh-freedom traffic rights for US and Colombian all-cargo air services to the ATA and will enter into force following an exchange of diplomatic notes. It has been applied on the basis of comity and reciprocity since it was initialed on December 14, 2018,” the office of the spokesperson, said.
“The rights in the amendment facilitate the movement of goods throughout the world by providing air carriers greater flexibility to meet their cargo and express-delivery customers’ needs more efficiently. Specifically, the amendment allows US air carriers to fly all-cargo services between Colombia and a third nation without needing to perform a commercial stop in the United States. Colombian air carriers have reciprocal rights to serve the United States on a seventh-freedom all-cargo basis. This amendment further expands our strong economic and commercial partnership with Colombia while creating new opportunities for airlines, exporters, and consumers. It fully opens the Colombian air cargo services market to US carriers and represents one way in which the US government is delivering for US air carriers and American workers.”
Open Skies agreements like the 2011 US-Colombia Air Transport Agreement provide maximum operational flexibility worldwide for US airlines and promote economic growth by increasing travel and trade, bolstering supply chains, enhancing productivity, and spurring high-quality job opportunities.
“The signing highlights this year’s celebration of the 30th anniversary of the US Open Skies international aviation policy,” noted the US department of state in a press release.
