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This chapter examines the unique regulatory environment that trans-border air carriers work within. Using a U.S. perspective the concept of the bilateral air agreement is outlined and discussed. These agreements form the basis for how two countries decide to share their airspaces among their air carriers. The trend has been toward more liberal approaches. To explain this trend the concepts of the Freedoms of the Air and Open Skies are discussed. Other liberalization programs are also discussed; specifically, co-terminalization and cabotage. Finally, the air cargo transfer operations at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport are used as an example to highlight a rare example of unilateral liberalization on the part of the United States.

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.

This chapter examines the systems used to collect data on the long-distance movement of freight by road for modelling, market research and other purposes. It begins by listing the features of an ideal long-distance freight data set that would fully meet the needs of policy makers, business analysts, academic researchers and freight operators. It then reviews the existing data-collection systems in Europe, highlighting their shortcomings and how they might be overcome. The third section analyses the strengths and limitations of several alternative approaches to collecting and analysing road freight data, some of which are at an early stage of development.

Alaska is the largest state by land area in the United States. It is also the most diverse in its climate and topography. This chapter will examine the geographic and operational features that make Alaska a unique environment for air cargo logistics. Some of these features sustain its competitive advantage in international air cargo activity. In particular, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) is a major air cargo gateway for Asia trade with the contiguous United States. An overview of the airport's exclusive air cargo transfer operations will be discussed. Alaska is also one of the least populous states, with about half of the population living in and around the Anchorage area. Due to this, towns and villages ranging from the temperate Alaska Panhandle to well above the Arctic Circle remain dependent on commercial air cargo activity. The federal air cargo program known as Alaska Bypass will be examined as remaining both unique and necessary for the state's socio-economic development.

This chapter uses airline data on fares, traffic, and flight characteristics to estimate a series of fare equations for international flights. The results are used to examine the role of international competition as a determinant of fares along international flights originating or departing from the United States. Findings suggest that actual and potential competition are important determinants of international airfares. We interpret these results as indicating that pricing behavior along US–international routes is consistent with the theory of imperfect contestability.

This chapter reviews the history of regulation and deregulation in international air transport and discusses the positive impacts of deregulation and open skies on the tourism sector in the Asia Pacific region. The Hong Kong–Bangkok market was examined, which shows that the granting of the fifth freedom rights has given the two places sufficient air service provisions to build tourism. Future reforms in air transport such as relaxing ownership restrictions and expanding air freedoms rights are explored.