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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.

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The future of air transport law.- Competition in aerospace travel.- Competition and the environment.- Competition and safety.- Competition and innovation in air transport.- Market access and subsidies in air transport - The US-UAE debate and WTO.- Achieving competitive advantage through connectivity and innovation - An application in airline hubbing.- Competition and open skies.- The NAFTA free trade model.- Competition law in air transport.- Air transport and the law of investment.- Conclusion.- Appendix.

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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.

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