Skies Wide Shut – An Assessment of International Air Transport Liberalization ^☆

The views expressed in this chapter are personal and do not bind either WTO Members or the WTO Secretariat.

Abstract

In spite of the extensive literature on the regulation of air transport services, until the development of the Quantitative Air Services Agreements Review (QUASAR) methodology no systematic review existed of the degree of liberalization granted through air services agreements. The chapter lays out QUASARs key features, and presents the main results its application has generated. It then elaborates on how the methodology could be further refined and extended to other segments of the air transport industry yet uncovered. Based on QUASAR, the chapter critically evaluates some commonly held beliefs about the liberalization of international passenger transport and then moves on to explore the technical feasibility of creating a liberal multilateral regime for air transport services. QUASAR has demonstrated that, although the air transport sector has experienced some liberalization over the past few years, this has been, overall, rather marginal. The skies are not truly open.

Citation

Latrille, P., Carzaniga, A. and Soprana, M. (2014), "Skies Wide Shut – An Assessment of International Air Transport Liberalization ^☆

The views expressed in this chapter are personal and do not bind either WTO Members or the WTO Secretariat.

", The Economics of International Airline Transport (Advances in Airline Economics, Vol. 4), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 61-125. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2212-160920140000004003