June 9 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union signed an accord to deregulate airline travel with eight southeastern European nations, Norway and Iceland, seeking to increase air traffic and tourism.

The agreement expands the 25-nation EU's single aviation market by 52 million people to more than 500 million, letting airlines fly between any two points in the area and aligning regulatory standards. Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and newly independent Montenegro make up the southeastern European group along with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo.

``We want this unified market to be put in place rapidly,'' EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot told a press conference today in Luxembourg. The accord, to be applied provisionally in the coming weeks pending ratification by the signatories, ``will open up market opportunities for the aviation industry and give people better travel options,'' he said.

Air traffic between the EU and southeastern Europe has more than doubled since 2001 and is set for further expansion because the Balkan region has coastal tourist destinations and more than 400 airports, according to the European Commission, the EU's regulatory arm in Brussels.

The EU today also signed an accord creating a single air- transport market with Singapore, which joins countries including Australia, New Zealand and Morocco that have individual airline- deregulation pacts with the bloc. About 3 million passengers a year fly between the EU and Singapore.

Trans-Atlantic Market

European plans to deregulate the $18 billion trans-Atlantic airline market remain on hold while the U.S. draws up rules to give foreign investors in its carriers more clout.

The EU says looser U.S. limits on foreign control of carriers must accompany any accord to end the trans-Atlantic route protection granted to airlines including British Airways Plc.

A trans-Atlantic ``open-skies'' agreement would let European airlines fly to the U.S. from any EU nation instead of just their home country. It would also scrap limits that allow only British Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., United Airlines and American Airlines to operate between the U.S. and London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.

The U.S. government pledged to give foreign investors more say in marketing, routes and aircraft. The U.S. plans no change to a law that limits foreign investors to 25 percent of voting equity.

``I hope the American position will be clarified in the coming weeks,'' Barrot said. He vowed to be ``very vigilant'' in negotiations with U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Luxembourg at jstearns2@bloomberg.net