U.S., Madagascar ink civil air agreement

U.S., Madagascar ink civil air agreement    The United States and Madagascar have signed an Open Skies civil aviation agreement that eliminates many government controls on normal business decisions airlines make every day on setting routes, frequency, capacity, fares and code sharing.
   The deal includes complete access to each country for all-cargo airlines, removing the requirement that aircraft be routed through their home country. Now U.S. airlines, for example, can be based anywhere in the world and directly fly to Madagascar without any stop over in the United States.
   The State Department said it hopes to use the agreement as a springboard for opening trade, investment and other exchanges between the two countries.
   It is the 61st bilateral aviation agreement entered into by the United States, which is exploring the possibility of a region-wide aviation liberalization agreement with the European Union.