Surviving the Single Market: The dilemmas and strategies of "small-country" airlines. Working Paper #4, February 2003

Staniland, Martin (2003) Surviving the Single Market: The dilemmas and strategies of "small-country" airlines. Working Paper #4, February 2003. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

[Summary]. This paper examines the problem of the survival of national “flag carrier” airlines of smaller Member States of the European Union in the increasingly competitive environment of the single European market. After considering the particular features of smaller countries as aviation markets, it discusses the advantages and disadvantages experienced by airlines based in such countries under the current international regime for commercial aviation (the so-called Chicago system). The paper then analyses the strategic responses of selected airlines (mainly Aer Lingus, Finnair, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Sabena, SAS and TAP Air Portugal) to the challenges of the single market. In particular, it explores efforts to establish global systems, to create European and long-haul niche markets and to form protective alliances between "small-country" carriers. The paper concludes by noting the tendency for the surviving national airlines of smaller Member States to become incorporated into the current global airline alliances as junior partners and the reasons for their accepting this status.

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