CCS releases Airline Industry Market Study findings summary

By Scott Clements, Lim Chong Kin and Ng Ee Kia

1. The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has today released a summary of its findings from an airline industry market study, which it commenced in 2013. The study was focused primarily on cooperation arrangements between airlines, and whether these arrangements give rise to net economic benefits.
2. To date, the CCS has granted a positive decision to eight airline cooperation arrangements, with such arrangements comprising all but two of the notifications to the CCS for their consideration since the implementation of the Singapore Competition Act (Cap.50B). Two of these notifications, between Japan Airlines and American Airlines, and between All Nippon Airways, Continental and United Airlines, were scrutinised in detail in the study.