Evaluating Airline Deregulation in Australia

John Quiggin

Australian Economic Review, 1997, vol. 30, issue 1, 45-56

Abstract: It has frequently been claimed that the cost of air travel in Australia has fallen by around 20 per cent in real terms since the end of the Two Airline agreement. However, this claim rests on a misinterpretation of price data. In this article, an analysis based on the theory of price indexes is presented. It is concluded that the representative passenger has probably experienced a small reduction in the cost of air travel since deregulation. Some additional benefits have flowed from the expansion of frequent flyer schemes, and from increased frequency of service. The distributional effects of deregulation are unclear, but are probably favourable on balance. The Australian airline industry is a natural duopoly and the market is not contestable. Therre is no evidence of dynamic efficiency gains arising from deregulation. The observed effects of deregulation are consistent with the predictions of neoclassical microeconomic theory.

Date: 1997
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