Economic downturn hits Atlantic flights

The US-EU "open skies" deal brought in nearly two years ago to boost transatlantic air services has been hit by the economic downturn, according to latest flight figures.

The number of airline seats on offer between North America and Western Europe this month is 5 per cent down on the January 2009 total, statistics from aviation data business company OAG showed, but those between the UK and Europe had increased.

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