Airline Deregulation in Australia and New Zealand

This chapter looks at the deregulation of airlines in Australia and New Zealand. It emphases on Australia and not on New Zealand. The two-airline policy, which ended in 1990, dates back to the 1950s when Robert Menzies was the Prime Minister of Australia. The Menzies government did not want a monopoly to prevail in the provision of the interstate domestic airline service. The Airlines Agreement Act aimed at creating an atmosphere in which "planned competition on the major routes could continue with consequent benefit to the operators, to the travelling public and to the nation". The &s;no-entry&s; policy of the government was implemented by its refusal to grant import licenses to potential competitors. There is no doubt that the favourable effects of airline deregulation in the United States gave a positive impetus for deregulation in Australia. The deregulation of interstate airlines in Australia resulted in one airline entering the market almost immediately following deregulation.