Airline alliances and antitrust policy: The role of efficiencies

The paper discusses selected antitrust implications of airline alliances. In addition to a categorization of airline alliances and a brief discussion of their key competitive effects, our focus is on an assessment of efficiencies triggered by various degrees of airline cooperation. We find that most types of efficiencies can only be considered as partly immunity-specific and should therefore enter an assessment of the economic effects of antitrust immunity only with the respective incremental benefits.

► The paper discusses selected antitrust implications of airline alliances.
► It specifically assesses the efficiencies triggered by airline cooperation.
► It finds that most types of efficiencies are only partly immunity-specific.
► Antitrust policy should focus on the incremental benefits of further cooperation.