The EU/US Open Skies deal should immediately be put back on the agenda, now that President Bush has been re-elected, an Irish MEP said yesterday.

Fianna Fáil's Mr Eoin Ryan said such a deal would be good for the broader development of the Irish economy.

The move would also greatly benefit Aer Lingus, whose chief executive, Mr Willie Walsh, has pledged to put on several new routes should current restrictions be eased.

Mr Ryan pointed out that under the current US/Ireland bilateral aviation agreement of 1990, Aer Lingus can only fly into certain US airports, including New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Baltimore.

"If an EU/US Open Skies agreement deal were to be struck, it would mean that Aer Lingus and other airlines could fly directly from Dublin Airport into a host of other American destinations," Mr Ryan said.

An open skies deal would end all individual aviation agreements between EU members and the US.

Mr Ryan said an open skies deal would be good news for the development of tourism in Dublin and good news for Irish people travelling to the US because more choice would become available.

He said increasing traffic flows to and from US cities would also be good news for inward investment opportunities.

He said agreement on a new open skies policy could not be reached earlier because of the political vacuum which existed this year in both the US and the EU. Mr Ryan pointed out there was now a new US government and a new EU Commission was being installed, so the vacuum had now been removed.