VZCZCXRO5201
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHHE #0184 0731437
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141437Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY HELSINKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3069
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS HELSINKI 000184 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB/TRA/AN/TCOLEMAN AND EUR/ERA/PWALKER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ECON EU KTIA PREL FI
SUBJECT: FINLAND SUPPORTS THE OPEN SKIES PLUS AGREEMENT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 29781 
 
¶1. (SBU) Econoff delivered reftel demarche on the Open Skies 
Plus agreement to Anne Torkkeli, Susan Hindstrom and Topi 
Siren, of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and 
Communications on March 14.  GOF contacts voiced support for 
the revised Air Services Agreement and disappointment that 
the original agreement wasn't signed during Finland's recent 
EU Presidency.  Torkkeli remarked that the agreement was 
important since it solidified the "legal certainty" of a 
bilateral aviation agreement between the U.S. and the EU. 
Finland plans to vote for the agreement during the upcoming 
EU Transport Council meeting; however, GOF contacts stressed 
they have limited ability to influence others on this matter 
now that the EU Presidency has passed to Germany. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Media sources quoted officials from Finnish flag 
carrier Finnair as saying that the agreement is still biased 
due to U.S. ownership restrictions.  After acknowledging that 
any agreement was better than nothing at all, Finnair 
officials said the agreement would have little direct impact 
on its daily operations.  During the last year, Finnair 
traffic to the U.S. has fallen by roughly 24 percent while 
increasing by the same amount to locations in Asia. 
HYATT