Air travel to Singapore opened up

Flights to Singapore from UK airports are set to be made more accessible from next year as a result of a new 'open skies' agreement.

The liberalising deal between the UK and the south-east Asian country means that there will be no restrictions on air services between the two nations.

Regulations over other issues such as codesharing and fair competition will also be relaxed.

Coming into effect on March 30th 2008, the agreement marks the first time that full access to the London-US aviation market has been awarded to non-EU or US airlines.

Jim Fitzpatrick, UK aviation minister, said: "I am delighted by this new deal, which will be good for passengers and for the aviation industry both in the UK and Singapore.

"It is the most liberal agreement of its type and I hope it will set the standard for other comparable agreements in the future."

Mr Fitzpatrick went on to describe the deal as a "major step" towards extending the open aviation agreements that travellers currently enjoy in Europe.