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The purpose of this paper is to examine how domestic airlines benefit when they have code sharing arrangements with international carriers.

The data for this research study have been collected primarily from three sources. The first database, the digest of statistics no. 400 is from International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) based in Montreal, Canada. The second source of data comes from the Airline Business database. The third source of data for this research study is from Official Airline Guide (OAG). Ten years of data from 1994 to 2004 are collected from the databases of ICAO, Airline Business and also from individual airlines. Data such as the revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and load factor are obtained from the ICAO database and data such as alliance pattern are culled from the Airline Business database.

This research study reveals that code sharing agreements between a domestic and international airline will benefit the former by way of increased RPMs, passenger load factor (PLF), and market share. However, the coefficients of the hypothesized variables suggest that the initial gains achieved by the domestic airlines by way of increased RPMs start to erode in the long run. Thus, a domestic airline must form a code sharing agreement with an international airline at the earliest, so as to get the initial increase in RPMs. The effect of code sharing on the market share of domestic airlines is explicit and consistent throughout this research study. The second dimension in the code sharing is the multiple alliances between domestic and international airlines. Multiple alliances refer to an airline having more than one code sharing agreement with international carriers. The third factor in this sequence of hypotheses is equity investment by international carriers in domestic airlines. The relationship between equity investment and its influence on the performance of the targeted firm is always an interesting topic explored by both the academic researchers and practitioners. However, in this study, the regression results do not support the hypothesis. That means that mere equity investment by international carriers in domestic airlines may not result in increased RPMs, load factor and the market share for domestic airlines. The interesting finding in this particular section is the influence of the large size of the alliance partners on all the three dependent variables; RPMs, PLF, and the market share. Therefore, we can conclude that if both the airlines are large enough and they form code sharing agreements, then this may result in increased RPMs, PLFs, and market share for the domestic airlines. Similarly, the study supports the premise that if the partners are unequal, then the domestic airlines may not be able to increase the RPMs, load factor, and the market share.

This paper reveals that code sharing arrangements reached earlier in the competition is better as the benefits tend to reduce after a certain period of time.

Code-sharing, a phenomenon observed in international airline markets, has emerged as an important form of alliance in the domestic U.S. airline industry. Unlike international markets where code-share agreements were often the only way for a carrier to enter into a route serving another country, the post-1980 U.S. airline industry has enjoyed de facto free entry and exit. However, the financial conditions of the mid-1990s combined with various constraints on airport and airspace capacity led domestic carriers to experiment with code-sharing.

Alliances and code sharing have become increasingly popular among airlines of all sizes as costs associated with expansion become impractical. To remain cost efficient and compete effectively in various markets, most airlines have formed alliances with other airlines to further strengthen their economic potential. Economic benefits of alliances and code sharing are examined. Either arrangement gives the airline a competitive advantage over those that do not enter into these agreements.

Here we consider the various ways in which airlines integrate their business activities. The thin markets, long distances, poor infrastructure, and challenging terrain over which many airlines based in developing countries operate can make it difficult to reap the economies of scale, scope, and density that carriers in more developed nations enjoy. There also remain institutional barriers to cross border trade in airline services. As a response to this, airlines from developing regions “cooperate” in a number of ways. This may involve multinational ownership, code sharing, or joint ventures. The rationale for these actions, together with discussion of the outcomes of some of them, is considered here.

Discusses how marketing practice is competitively evolving as airlines, in a code‐sharing environment, seek to be more effective, efficient and profitable. It complements changes to airline structures in routeing, staffing levels and technology, and by establishing strong brand presence is a means for customer attraction, retention and network expansion. Distribution channels are changing as travel agencies are affected by airlines’ direct sales and Internet‐based interactive communication. Traditional segmentation tactics directed to business travellers, through frequent flyer programmes and premium services, are threatened by businesses economising, staff reductions and the increasing importance of the leisure traveller. An overview of international practice is taken and points illustrated, where appropriate, by examples of specific airlines.

Alliances between companies are an example of a collaborative strategy adopted in anticipation of highly uncertain markets. Since 1980, the commercial airline industry has been affected by a progressive liberalization worldwide. In this historical context, most airlines reacted with defensive movements in the face of high competition. In the case of airlines in the Spanish market, one of the largest in the world due to the weight of the tourism sector in its economy, airlines responded in various ways to the intensification of competition. Iberia, the main Spanish airline, established different defensive alliance policies. In the 1980s, alliances were mainly collaborative. Since 1998, airline alliances have become coopetitive in nature, as was the case with the creation of One World group (American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Iberia). The partners began to interact in a more horizontal way, maintaining various agreements (code-sharing, handling, schedule coordination, shared sales, fleet maintenance) without renouncing their independence in the face of global competition. Iberia has subsequently modified the composition of its portfolio to move towards a more vertical collaboration with the integration into the IAG Group (Iberia, British Airways, Air Lingus and Vueling). This second phase is a quest to increase market power with deep changes in the nature of its alliances while maintaining coopetitive alliances.

The purpose of this paper is to present global airline alliances from a complementary and original angle to the existing works: “specific social networks”. “Social” as it is an inter‐organisational network through business relations between airline companies and “specific” as these are formal relations of contractual types (joint marketing, code sharing agreements, etc.).

It is an empirical study, about cooperation agreements between global regular airlines, over a time period of six years from Airline Business Review database. The graph theory is used to measure social network and graphics representation for illustrations.

The results show that there is a real process of social embeddedness correlated to the airline alliances members' experiences. Their structuring as networks varies in time following a life cycle and their specific morphologies affect their performance.

The paper proposes numerous measures to approach the structure of airline alliances and graphics representations to illustrate networks.

The paper draws a synthesis from the morphology and morphogenesis of airline alliances, proposing thereby some of their structural properties which have an impact on their competitiveness.

Looks at the world airline industry, from 1978 to 1998, from a strategy perspective. Traces the strategic developments and the strategy responses of the key airline players that have had a profound impact on the shape and direction of the industry. These include the deregulation of the industry, the nature and extent of competition, the emergence of brand/differentiation based competition, and airline alliance developments, strategies and their implications. Also provides a glimpse of what the future will hold for the world airline industry, including the prospects of increased global market concentration and the emergence of mega consortia, comprising lead airlines from key regions of the world, on the global stage. These global consortia, which will marginalise other players, will also compete against each other on the basis of branding/differentiation.

The purpose of this article is to review the alternatives and to demonstrate the easily measurable benefits of savvy searching for airfares.

A desk‐based approach to data collection is used.

It is found that by exploring the best deals through savvy searching can yield instantly measurable benefits. Depending on travel patterns, being a savvy travel searcher can easily save enough money to yield a very good return on investment.

The article highlights some points and reinforces others on some of the best practices for savvy searching.

International business and/or strategic management.

This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students majoring in international business management and/or strategic management.

Etihad Airways was established in 2003, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the UAE government as sole owner. It is the national carrier of UAE with Abu Dhabi as its centre of operations. Etihad is recognized as a fast-growing player in the aviation industry, and has become one of the dominant international players in the industry in a relatively short time. Etihad's fleet now contains more than 67 planes, with more than 1,300 flights per week to diverse destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The company describes its business strategy as “sustainable growth”. Looking through a practitioner's lens, strategic partnerships have been the critical activities through which Etihad has delivered its strategy. The purpose of this case study is therefore to elaborate on its major and successful partnerships and the critical benefits of these. Secondary data were collected from credible sources including academic studies, relevant Etihad publications and industry reports published by official aviation associations.

Students will be able to understand the theory of strategic partnerships, their roles and benefits and critically evaluate the pre-staging “requirements” of such partnerships. In this case, the specific learning outcome of it is to help students to understand the importance of successful strategic partnerships for Etihad Airlines and how partnership strategies can improve the performance of Etihad Airlines.

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