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Capitol Area Telugu Society

May 27, 2015

The Honorable John Kerry

Secretary of State

U.S. Department of State

2201 C Street, NW

Washington, DC 20520

The Honorable Anthony Foxx

Secretary of Transportation

U.S. Department of Transportation

1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20590

The Honorable Penny S. Pritzker

Secretary of Commerce

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20230

FOR DOCKETS DOS-2015-0016, DOT-OST-2015-0082, and DOC-2015-0001

Dear Secretaries:

On behalf of Capitol Area Telugu Society, representing 9,900 members of the Telugu community across 

the Washington, DC area, I am writing to urge you to continue to support the Open Skies agreement with 

the UAE and not reopen negotiations based on the concerns of three U.S. air carriers. The members of 

Capitol Area Telugu Society value the access to the cities of Hyderabad and Chennai afforded by our 

Open Skies agreements with the UAE and Qatar, and we are concerned that a renegotiation will 

jeopardize commerce, diminish our close cultural interactions and impede travel between the 

Washington, DC area and these destinations.

Our organization strongly opposes proposals to freeze expansion of service by Gulf airlines from Dulles 

International Airport or to remove these carriers from the Washington D.C. air travel market. We believe 

that current Open Skies agreements are serving their purpose in supplying greater consumer choice and 

easier access to many international destinations that were, prior to the entry of the Gulf carriers, very 

difficult to reach. This success would be curtailed were the U.S. to back out of these agreements.

As previously mentioned the Gulf States airlines currently offer the most convenient access to the Indian 

states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana where many members of our organization migrated to America 

from and where we still have extended family. Whereas most other carriers access the area through Delhi 

and Mumbai, Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar Airways—offer single-connection flights through their hubs 

in the Middle East to get to Hyderabad and Chennai in addition to other major cities in India. Chennai

and Hyderabad are two key cities for Telugus hailing from the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
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eMail: info@theuscats.org

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Capitol Area Telugu Society

Total travel time currently is five to ten hours shorter. Connections are also easier to make than in busy 

Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Also, ever since these airlines have introduced the service, there 

has been more choice in routes and pricing. 

Losing these routes between Washington to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana would be a deep 

disappointment to the Telugu community. Traveling to and from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana would 

become significantly more difficult, and likely more expensive as soon as the few remaining carriers 

flying to Hyderabad and Chennai adjust their fares to account for the lack of competition. An unintended 

side effect of these changes would increase the prices for all Americans and visitors to the United 

States using the European routes since there will be more traffic through the European cities. Since 

the introduction of the customs and immigration clearance has been added in some of the Middle Eastern 

cities it has also helped customs and immigration teams to reduce cost. In addition, this will affect our 

ability to stay in contact with family and friends, as we will be more limited in our international travel 

and they will face greater challenges in coming here. Overall, such a change would have a stifling effect 

on the cultural interchange we currently enjoy.

Washington is a global city, and it needs robust global air travel. Open Skies is making that happen and 

should not be undermined. As your agency considers potential action on Open Skies agreements, we 

encourage you to avoid taking any action that would make it more difficult for Telugus and other people 

of diverse origin to reach overseas destinations they care about.

Sincerely,

Madhusudhan Kola

President, Capitol Area Telugu Society 

president@theuscats.org

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