Governor in European talks

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1998 | 12:14 p.m.

Gov. Bob Miller arrived in London today and will try to persuade British officials that London needs nonstop air service to Las Vegas.

Miller, on the second leg of what is now a three-nation European tourism-building mission, concluded two days of talks in Germany and will now work on what most believe to be the most significant portion of the trip -- the British stop.

The governor, in his third overseas trip this year, will converge with two other members of the Nevada contingent that had been in London since Monday attending the three-day bilateral air traffic talks between Britain and the United States.

In the next two days, the Nevada delegation will host a luncheon for representatives of airlines that have the potential some day of flying passengers directly from London to Las Vegas. U.S. carriers United and American and British companies Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have trans-Atlantic flights to a number of U.S. gateways.

Virgin Atlantic appears to be Las Vegas' best bet for service. The company proposed twice-a-week flights last year when it competed for an open landing slot at Heathrow International Airport. British Airways ultimately got the slot with a proposal for daily nonstop flights to Denver.

Other large U.S. carriers -- Continental, Delta and Northwest -- have been invited to the state's lunch because they, too, are waiting to hear if any slots will be made available at London's two airports through negotiations in the bilateral talks.

Several issues are on the table for the talks, which would update a 21-year-old agreement called Bermuda 2. New slots may open as a condition of the approval of an alliance between British Airways and American Airlines.

But other issues could come into play. The U.S. government wants an "open skies" agreement allowing all carriers access to all British cities. The British government supports the BA-AA alliance, which would extend British Airways' reach into the United States.

Virgin Atlantic is vehemently opposed to the BA-AA merger and Nevada delegates are carefully avoiding becoming embroiled in the dispute between British Airways and Virgin, which is headed by Richard Branson.

Branson has said he wants to build a hotel in Las Vegas and already owns the Virgin Records store here.

The Nevada delegation plans a special meeting with Virgin Atlantic officials, although Branson apparently won't attend.

Bill Mahaffey, manager of transportation for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said the three-day bilateral talks "are not progressing as fast as we would like to see."

"I'm not pessimistic," Mahaffey said. "It's pretty much the way we expected it would go."

Mahaffey said in addition to airline delegates, those attending the bilateral talks have included union representatives from both countries, government officials and representatives of other potential U.S. gateway cities -- Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Washington and Portland, Ore.

The bilateral negotiating process is expected to take more meetings. Mahaffey said the next round probably would occur in Washington either in December or January.

Miller hadn't planned on attending the talks and will get a status report from Mahaffey and Harry Kassap, manager of air service development at McCarran International Airport. Those two will join Miller for the London tour meetings. After leaving London, the Nevada contingent will head to Brussels for talks with Sabena Airlines, the parent company of the City Bird discount air carrier.

Meetings originally planned with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in Amsterdam on the last leg of the trip were canceled late last week.

Miller kicked off his trip with two stops in Germany.