Economic effects of air transport market liberalization in Africa

Megersa Abate

No 2014:23, Working papers in Transport Economics from CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI)

Abstract: Although the aviation industry is increasingly becoming important for Africa's economic development and integration, the ability of airlines to access foreign markets remains hindered by restrictive regulatory policies. Attempts have been made to fully liberalize the intra-African air transport market. Except for general assertions about the merits/demerits of liberalization, our empirical understanding of the welfare effects of such polices in Africa remains rudimentary. This study empirically measures the economic effects of air transport liberalization, mainly on two supply side variables: fare and service quality, measured as departure frequency. The results show up to 40 % increase in departure frequency in routes that experienced some type of liberalization compared to those governed by restrictive bilateral air service agreements. While the effect of liberalization is substantial in improving service quality, there is no evidence of its fare reducing effect.

Keywords: Air transport; Liberalization; Yamoussoukro decision; Bilateral air service agreements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L51 L93 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2014-11-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-reg and nep-tre
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Journal Article: Economic effects of air transport market liberalization in Africa (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_023

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