The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the European Commission have launched a new joint research project aimed at deepening their understanding of how alliances have affected competition in transatlantic markets and the potential impact of the new U.S.-EU Air Transport Open Skies Agreement set to begin this month.

The U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement, which will for the first time allow EU and U.S. airlines to serve any route between Europe and the United States, calls for developing a common understanding of trends in the airline industry in order to promote compatible approaches on competition issues.

The Commission and DOT will interview airlines, travel agents, industry analysts, and consumer groups, as well as perform quantitative analysis on air traffic data. The research project will ultimately enable the Commission and DOT to develop a common understanding of competition in trans-Atlantic markets and to inform public discussions of the future of air transportation.

A final report summarizing the main findings of the research will be published in mid-2009.