D.Comm. / Many studies on the topic of air transport deregulation have seen the light in the past two decades, and only more recently (in the early 1990s) has this trend had its impact on the South African domestic air transport industry. For a period of almost 41 years (from 1949 until 1990), domestic air services on major routes in South Africa were strictly regulated by Government through the Air Services Act, No 51 of 1949. The above is the result of air transport policy that came into being in the early days of air transport and remained in place until the late 1980s. Only after the adoption of a policy of deregulation did air transport policy adjust to allow for the entry of the private sector into the domestic air transport market as from 1990 onwards. In his study titled "Control Over Domestic Air Transportation in South Africa - A Historic Perspective"(1996), Mr J Vermooten describes the history of air transport in South Africa as follows: In the period 1929 to 1934, the following airlines were responsible for establishing scheduled domestic air services in South Africa: - Union Airways; South West African Airways (Junkers); Imperial Airways; and Rhodesian and Nyasaland Airways. All of the above airlines, except the last-mentioned, relied heavily on air mail subsidy agreements from Government enabling them to operate scheduled services in South Africa. Chapter 1 - 2 Over time, the South African Railways and Harbours Administration (SAR&H) became concerned about the threat of intermodal competition from air services and the possible diversionary effect on its first class rail passenger traffic. This eventually resulted in the protection of railway services against competition from air transport, similar - to the protection against competition from motor transportation. The provision of air transport services was fortunately not completely banned. Instead, departmental air services were introduced through the purchase of Union Airways by the South African Railways in February 1934. This was followed by the purchase of South West African Airways a year later (February 1935). At the start of the Second World War (1939/1940), aircraft employed for civil air transport were transferred to military authorities and South Africa became totally dependent on foreign airlines for the provision of domestic air transport services. These services were provided by: the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC); Society Anonyme Beige d'Esploration de la Navigation Aerienne (SABENA) and Southern Rhodesia Air Services (SRAS), which succeeded the old Rhodesia and Nyasaland Airways (RANA). Domestic Air Services by foreign airlines were provided at very reasonable prices during the war, but fares were increased by between 25% and 38% when South African Airways (SAA) resumed its domestic services after the war. The economic conditions immediately after the Second World War could not support the levels of fares and tariffs introduced with the resumption of services by SAA. To rescue the situation, SAA's domestic fares, excess luggage and freight rates were restored to 1941-levels on 1 March 1946. Chapter 1 - 3 In response to the need of Municipalities to clarify their position with regard to airports and feeder services, the South African Government introduced an air transport policy that reserved the major domestic air transport services for SAA, leaving it to the private sector to participate in the provision of feeder air services. The policy also made provision for various categories of airports and degrees of financial assistance by the Government, thereby limiting the demands by Municipalities for the increased use of airports. The National Transport Commission (NTC) was established in terms of the Transport Co-ordination Act of 1948, in order to replace the Civil Aviation Council. The Council was responsible for the technical issues related to air transport, such as the competency of air personnel, airworthiness of aircraft, the provision of facilities in the interest of safety, etc. The Transport Co-ordination Act charged the NTC with the following tasks: "... (to) promote and encourage the development of transport in the Union and, where necessary, co-ordinate various phases of transport in order to achieve the maximum benefit and economy of transport services to the public." The Act also led to the protection of SAA - similar to the protection of railway services provided by the SAR&H. The Air Services Act of 1949 formally introduced the concept of economic regulation of air transport services in South Africa and in 1952 the NTC formulated a comprehensive air transport policy which ensured the establishment of a monopoly for SAA over the majority of air transport services in the domestic market until 1991. Following on what was said above, the Air Services Act (No 51 of 1949) provided for the licensing and control of airlines and air services and stipulated that, subject to certain exceptions, no one was allowed to use an aircraft for commercial purposes, unless a licence to do so has been granted by the NTC (section 2 of the Act). In terms of section 10 of the Act, the NTC was prohibited from granting a licence in competition with an existing licence, if the service provided by the existing licensee was "satisfactory and sufficient" to meet the needs of the public at a "reasonable charge". To summarise, one can say that prior to the establishment of SAA a very liberal air transport policy existed, whilst after its establishment air transport policy was protectionist in nature. The "interest of the public" in the provision of air transport services was generally regarded as the interest of the SAR&H - rather than the users directly affected by the air service. It is also remarkable that foreign airlines played such an important role in the development and maintenance of domestic air services in South Africa in the very early days of air transport in this country, as well as during the Second World War at which time the civil air services provided by SAA were terminated due to support for military needs. Since the establishment of the national carrier, SAA, by the SAR&H, air transport in South Africa was subject to the protection of the Government and as a result, SAA obtained a monopoly in the provision of domestic air transport services. The SAR&H was succeeded by the South African Transport Services (SATS) and in 1988, the South African transport industry moved a step closer towards the deregulation and privatisation of State-owned transport enterprises, with the restructuring of SATS and its predecessor, the SAR&H which has played the role of "Big Brother" in the industry since South Africa became a Union in 1910.

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

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[Truncated abstract] “Open Skies” is the term given to a relatively recent (1992) policy initiative of the United States in its pursuit of the deregulation of international air transportation. It represents the latest in a long line of similar initiatives which the U.S. has been pursuing almost since the inception of the aviation industry. Essentially “Open Skies” is little more than a specific type of bilateral aviation agreement between two nations (and often between more than two nations) which typically provides for open entry on routes, unrestricted capacity and frequency on routes, and unrestricted air traffic rights. The significance of Open Skies agreements is that they appear to encapsulate general world-wide trends towards open economies characterised by a minimum of government interference and a maximum reliance on market forces to allocate scarce resources ... Australia however is not one of the nations seeking to become a party to such an agreement with the U.S. despite attempts by that nation to persuade Australia to do so and the question is: Can or should Australia resist attempts by the United States to bring it within the expanding umbrella of Open Skies, or are there other practical alternatives open to Australia? After examining the history of the development of Open Skies agreements and their international legal foundation, this thesis argues that there are strong considerations of policy and economics why Australia should embrace Open Skies initially at least on a regional basis centred in the Asia Pacific region, rather than with the United States. Implicit in that proposal is the fact that in terms of its constitutional and legal system, Australia has the legal capacity to enter into Open Skies agreements. The parties to such a regional Open Skies agreement might at a later date choose to enter into a multilateral Open Skies agreement with the United States, if economic and political conditions are suitable for them to do so. On the assumption that a form of Open Skies policy will eventually be adopted by Australia this thesis examines the constitutional and domestic legal regulatory framework for aviation within Australia, and the changes if any which would be required to it, if Australia was to embrace such a policy.

No description available.

The formation of airline alliances has been a distinctive feature of the airline business at the threshold of the new millennium. This is due to the framework of Bilateral Air Transport Agreements, which condition the grant of traffic rights to substantial ownership and effective control being vested in nationals of one of the contracting parties. Further regulatory aspects pertaining to airline alliances include competition law review, traffic rights, and slot allocation. / This thesis seeks to elucidate how Star had to adapt its strategic choices to this framework. The outcome will be that in particular the lack of regulatory convergence in competition law matters constitutes a hindrance to a global alliance such as Star. The issue of ownership and control might represent a further obstacle to an alliance intending to rely on mergers or major share holding, an ambition that Star has not nourished so far. Open Skies agreements in force between the U.S., Canada, and several member states of the European Union give alliances full commercial opportunities, unhindered by restrictive capacity or approval of fares provisions. The principles as regards slot allocation, on the other hand, have enabled alliances to build up their hubs as fortresses. / The issues of competition law, and ownership and control illustrate that it has become increasingly insufficient to rely on a merely bilateral approach to global problems. Eventually, satisfactory solutions may only be achieved on a multilateral level. The onus thus is on aviation regulators to come up with a more suitable framework for aviation in the next century. / Multilateralism, however, might turn out to herald the end to the alliance phenomenon. Once the bilateral strait jacket put aside, the aviation industry will consolidate like any other industry: by mergers, that is.

Through a comparative study of the aviation policies in the principal countries of North America (the United States) and Europe (Germany), this thesis will examine China's aviation policy and its situation in the trend toward liberalization, placing special emphasis on bilateral agreements. / This thesis will describe the historic evolution of the economic regulation in civil air transport that laid the foundation for bilateral air transport service agreements and the Open Skies regime. Moreover, the development of bilateral air services agreements, from the Bermuda Agreements to the U.S.'s "Open Skies" Policy, is addressed. Then, a study of the ICAO actions toward liberalization is undertaken. / An analysis from the deregulation, privatization in the American and E.U.'s aviation market to the reform in the Chinese civil aviation is conducted. Under the impact of the global liberalization trend, the Chinese aviation industry is creating a "deepen, widen" reform. Specifically, China Southern's imminent entrance into SkyTeam will significantly push the Chinese aviation policy toward liberalization. A detailed comparative study of bilateral air transport agreements between China, the United States, and Germany will show the recent progress of the Chinese aviation policy. / Finally, an argument for the separation of air cargo from air passengers in the liberalization process, especially for China's negotiation of bilateral agreements, is presented.

No description available.

The deregulation of the airline industry created a myriad of changes in the U.S. air transport system that has both defended and sparked debate on the wisdom of such policy change for over three decades. One of the promises of deregulation from its proponents in the 1970s was increased competition that would lead to a reduction in fares for consumers. Historic data and literature has indeed shown this to be to the case as average airfares have trended downward especially over the last twenty years. Nonetheless, the industry has become much more complex since deregulation in terms of pricing to the point that very sophisticated yield management computer models are used to achieve an optimum balance between load factors and price. Consequently, this has in turn translated into a haphazard experience for most air travelers in the United States; for instance, the cost of a ticket is sometimes lower traveling from coast to coast than within a particular region of the U.S. and paid fares for the exact same trip can deviate dramatically, often based on variation in the date of purchase. Additionally, this has also resulted in a spatial pattern where certain regions throughout the country have enjoyed lower airfares more so than others. This research seeks to identify this regional disparity using a geographically weighted regression and spatial autoregressive models in a sample of 6,200 routes between 80 primary U.S. airports. The results from the global model showed that variables which measure competition (airlines), operating cost (flights, distance) and elasticity (layover time) proved to be statistically significant and had a positive relationship with airfare The GWR results indicated that while some factors like distance, and hub size, were statistically significant almost nationwide, other factors such as frequency, presence of low cost carriers, and numbers of airlines were only statistically significant at certain airports. Finally, the spatial regressions models indicate that the spatial autocorrelation found in U.S. airfares resemble the first order properties of spatial autocorrelation (i.e. spatial heterogeneity) and not the second order properties (i.e. spatial dependence). / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

University of Macau / Faculty of Law