Technical efficiency and liberalisation within international air transport (1992–2000)

Resum

The main aim of this article is to analyse the technical efficiency of different international airline companies during the period 1992–2000. For a number of reasons this analysis is of particular value. Firstly, dealing with the degree of market competition, the main studies into the question of efficiency -(1986), (1991)- use a period of analysis during which air transport was tightly regulated in many countries and the majority of national airline companies were under public ownership. More recent studies, such as those published by (1999) or by (1999), analyse efficiency by comparing regulated periods with other periods of partial liberalisation. In both studies, improvements in efficiency are documented as the liberalisation process advances. Nevertheless, there are no studies available regarding the efficiency of air transport companies that were operational during a complete period of liberalisation, through which we might discover whether there are trends towards increases or reductions in efficiency.