Jahangir Asgarov, president of the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), and Robert Cekuta, the US ambassador in Baku, signed the Open Skies Agreement on April 6 for the liberalization of air transport market between the two countries.

The bilateral agreement will simplify the process of organizing flights between the US and Azerbaijan, and contribute to the increase in the number of commercial flights.

The Open Skies Agreement stipulates the elimination of countries' interference in commercial decisions regarding the airlines' routes and pricing.

This allows the operators to render more reasonable and efficient services for passenger and cargo transportation.

The US Federal Aviation Administration assigned "A" category, the highest security level, to Azerbaijan after the improvement of regulatory framework of Azerbaijan's civil aviation.

This allowed launching a direct flight between the two countries. AZAL has been operating the Baku-New York regular flights, using the Boeing-787-8 Dreamliner, twice a week since Sept. 23, 2014.