This book considers the current legal issues affecting the air transport sector incorporating recent developments in the air transport sector, including the end of certain exemptions from EU competition rules, the effect of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the accession of new EU Member States and the Lisbon Treaty. The book explores the differing European and US regulatory approaches to the changes in the industry and examines how airlines have remained economically efficient in what is perceived as a complex and confused regulatory environment.

An examination of the relationship between competition and the deregulation and liberalisation of the US and European air transport sectors reveals that the structure of the air transport sector has undergone a number of significant changes. A growing number of airlines are entering into horizontal and vertical cooperative arrangements and integration including franchising, codeshare agreements, alliances, ‘virtual mergers’ and in some cases, mergers with other airlines, groups of airlines or other complementary lines of business such as airports. This book considers the current legal issues affecting the air transport sector incorporating recent developments in the industry, including the end of certain exemptions from EU competition rules, the effect of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the accession of new EU Member States and the Lisbon Treaty. The book explores the differing European and US regulatory approaches to the changes in the industry and examines how airlines have remained economically efficient in what is perceived as a complex and confused regulatory environment. Competition and Regulation in the Airline Industry will be of particular interest to academics and students of competition law as well as EU law.

This book examines the role and utility of competition law within the EU’s legislative and regulatory dialogue, using its response to crisis conditions as a test of its aims and abilities. As such, its main conclusion is that competition policy acts as a forum for debate as to the direction of the European integration project, while competition law can serve as a tool for aiding in the implementation of broader policy objectives. The analysis here explores the role of the general economic context in the application of competition law, the existence of identifiable baselines applicable in crisis conditions, the ability and role of national competition authorities in applying competition law, and the ways in which the European Commission’s overarching policy goals can influence the application of competition law. The decision to take an empirical approach to this research project stems from a conviction that an investigation into the real world situations faced by firms and consumers should underpin the evaluation of the applicable legal rules. Over the past number of years, the Commission has exerted more and more influence over the development of the regional and global airline industry, and this book identifies the emergence of an apparent overarching aim on the part of the Commission to create a market with a handful of ultra-competitive airlines with international reach serviced by an array of smaller feeder airlines on a regional basis. The study of Irish beef processing, on the other hand, identifies a high level of government involvement in providing the strategic thinking behind a crisis cartel scheme, and then demonstrates how the economic context exerted considerably more pressure on the government and the national court than on the competition authorities involved.