1.   He has been a staunch advocate of the open skies policy which has helped to open up regional aviation.

2.   But he and Zifkin of Duke cautioned that a comprehensive open skies policy was not necessarily a certainty.

3.   However, Aviation Department officials argue that an open sky policy is not practical at present because of inadequate facilities at Don Muang International Airport.

4.   Last week, Australian officials sent a draft memorandum of understanding on the open sky policy to their Thai counterparts.

5.   Malaysia was one of the countries the US wanted to sign an open skies policy with.

6.   Gerchik described the proposed US-Asian open skies policy as a turning point in aviation history, setting a paradigm for relations between the two sides.

7.   Morisot said the countries with the most to gain from an open skies policy are Taiwan and South Korea, which both want to be regional transport hubs.

8.   The open sky policy is expected to be implemented a year from now.

9.   The new aviation minister said the government was keen to move towards an open skies policy to make Colombo the aviation hub of South Asia.