Originally Posted by
meFIRST
I'm surprised CO is not flying IAH-DME, for some added competition.
Russia is not part of the Open Skies Agreement. Each new route must be approved by the governments of both Russia and the US; this is a process which can take years. If my memory serves me well it took AA 3 or 4 years to get a permission to fly ORD-DME route. Since they have not been actually making any regular flights for two years now, I understand they have lost their right to it and shoud they decide to resume flights, that'll be another couple of years of cutting through the red tape.
For a new kid on the block (and CO despite being a part of UA will be treated as a diferent carrier) would have to go through the whole process - 3 or 4 years that is.