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Australia and the US have signed an aviation agreement that clears the way for increased competition on one of the world's most lucrative and protected long-haul routes.
The long-awaited deal will allow Australian and US airlines to freely select routes, destinations and frequency of flights between the two countries and to other nations.
Australia's Qantas Airways and Chicago-based United Airlines are currently the only airlines flying non-stop between Australia and the US. The new agreement will allow Australian carrier Virgin Blue to push ahead with its plans to begin flights to the US by the end of this year.
Virgin Blue, Australia's second-largest airline by revenue, wants to fly to the US West Coast using Boeing 777-300ER aircraft and would operate the new service through its new international arm, V Australia.
Qantas operates 43 flights a week between Australia and Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, while its budget offshoot, Jetstar, flies five times weekly to Honolulu.
United Airlines, with its 14 weekly flights, and Hawaiian Airlines, which flies three times a week between Honolulu and Sydney, are the only other carriers flying between the two countries.
CargonewsAsia
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