International air services liberalization

The European Commission selected The Brattle Group to undertake a major study of the effects of eliminating all commercial restrictions on competition and investment between civil air carriers in the U.S. and Europe. Our study, The Economic Impact of an EU-US Open Aviation Area, has been widely cited in the press, and both the European Commission and the U.S. government drew upon it when negotiating the 2005 EU-US aviation agreement.

Our report highlighted the quantitative methods utilized to estimate the impact of market liberalization on airline costs, air fares and passenger traffic for transatlantic routes and routes within Europe. The study helped to determine the effects of liberalization on consumer welfare and employment.