The US Departments of Commerce, State, and Transportation are reviewing claims that three foreign airlines – Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways – have received and are benefitting from subsidies from their respective governments of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar that are distorting the global aviation market. The claims, which are asserted in a publicly available report, are of significant interest to stakeholders and all three Federal agencies, an official release states, adding that “The US government takes seriously the concerns raised in the report and is interested in receiving insights and feedback from stakeholders before any decisions are made regarding what action, if any, should be taken”.
Accordingly, consistent with the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative and commitment to transparency, public participation, and collaboration, the three Departments are announcing the establishment of an open forum by which any interested stakeholder may submit information regarding their views on this subject and have access to the information submitted by other interested stakeholders.
All interested persons or groups are invited to submit information, responses to existing materials, or any other analysis that they might wish to provide the US government on this subject on the www.regulations.gov website as soon as practicable, as review of any new material submitted to the joint docket is expected to begin by the end of May, to supplement the US government’s ongoing review and evaluation of this matter.