Chillin'Competition

The air transport sector exhibits a variety of particularities which distinguish it from other sectors: scale effects, important barriers to entry, ongoing liberalization, increased industry consolidation, critical input dependence (in particular, fuel prices), pervasive cooperative networks (strategic alliances), commercial innovation (emergence of low costs business models), sensitiveness to external shocks (terrorist attacks and natural disasters, etc.), etc. The purpose of the present dissertation is to determine to what extent the Commission’s merger control policy as regards air transport services follows a sector-specific approach and, if so, whether this is justified or not. To this end, the present dissertation reviews, in turn, the following issues: (i) market definition; (ii) theories of harm in horizontal, vertical and conglomeral air transport mergers; (iii) efficiencies; and (iv) remedies. It places a specific emphasis on the latest Commission decisions adopted in 2009.