Competition and Investment in Air Transport - Legal and Economic Issues

This book addresses emerging legal and economic issues in competition and investment in air transport, against the backdrop of the role governments and airlines should play in avoiding protectionism and encouraging innovation and creativity. It evaluates current trends in air transport and the direction the industry is taking in the twenty first century. There are discussions on key aspects of air transport, such as safety assurance and environmental protection, as they are impacted by competition. The rapid evolution of aerospace transport and its effect on competition in air transport is also examined. A recurring theme of the book is the influence of creative destruction and disruptive innovation on air transport. This is addressed through an in-depth study of the contentious areas of law relating to the abuse of dominant positions and state aid, as reflected in the ongoing claim by the three largest US carriers against Gulf carriers such as Emirates Airlines, Etihad and Qatar Airways. The US carriers claim that Emirates and Etihad - which operate air services into the United States by virtue of an open-skies agreement between the US and The United Arab Emirates - are using generous subsidies given to them by their g
overnments to illegally capture the 'legitimate' market belonging to the US carriers. These issues are clarified in the book using analyses of competition law and investment law as they apply to air transport, free-trade-agreement analogies and an open-skies case study.




Dr. Ruwantissa Abeyratne has worked in the field of aviation law and management for over thirty years.  He is currently President/CEO of Global Aviation Consultancies Inc., and Senior Associate, Air Law and Policy  at Aviation Strategies International, both of which are consultancies headquartered in Montreal. At retirement from the International Civil Aviation Organization after 23 years of service at various senior positions in air transport and air law, Dr. Abeyratne was  Senior Legal Officer, heading  the  Treaty Office of ICAO.  He also  advised States on their registration and depository obligations with regard to international treaties and their  adherence thereto and was General Counsel for ICAO staff members.  Prior to his service at ICAO,  Dr. Abeyratne was, for 8 years at Airlanka, serving the airline as Chief Coordinator and Head of International Relations and Insurance.
Dr. Abeyratne,  holds the degree of doctor of civil laws (DCL) from McGill University, the degree of doctor of philosophy (PhD) from the University of Colombo, the degree of master of
laws (LL.M) from Monash University, Victoria, Australia, and the degree of bachelor of laws (LL.B) from the University of Colombo.  He is an ICAO TRANAIR certified instructor.
Dr. Abeyratne is the author of 27 books and more than 400 papers in academic and professional journals and edited volumes. His professional reputation rests largely on work in aerospace law, diplomacy  and economics. 




Dr. Abeyratne's  current academic research is focused on  air transport economics and aviation and climate change.  
Dr. Abeyratne  holds an impressive record of teaching at graduate level for 22 years in the field of international law and relations and public policy.
He is a fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and a member of the Internationa
l Trade Law and Space Law Committees of the International Law Association.  Dr. Abeyratne is also a member of editorial boards of several international law journals.