US faces EU legal action over Norwegian Air’s Irish subsidiary

The EU took unprecedented legal action against the US in a bid to enable Norwegian Air Shuttle to serve American destinations from Ireland. The EC triggered arbitration this week aimed at ensuring Norwegian Air Shuttle’s Irish subsidiary can fly trans-Atlantic routes. The step, taken under a dispute-settlement clause in the EU-US “open-skies” agreement, is meant to push the DoT in Washington to give final approval to the Irish unit’s Dec 2013 application for a foreign-carrier permit. “It’s unclear if and when the Department of Transportation will take the final decision,” a commission spokeswoman said Thursday. “Therefore, after consulting the EU member states, we decided to seek a resolution by legal means.” <br/>