Abstract:
Air services is a term that can refer to a range of aviation related services including aircraft
maintenance and repair, but also route access, flight frequency, national treatment, and levels of foreign
ownership of airlines. It should be noted that the term ‘air services’ in this paper is intended to refer to
route access, flight frequency, national treatment, and levels of foreign ownership of airlines. Where
other types of air services are being discussed these will be specifically set out.
Aviation is a significant industry in New Zealand that is growing, and progressive reform opportunities
to benefit the sector (and New Zealand Inc) are worthy of further investigation. This research paper
considers what current air services arrangements New Zealand has and how greater benefits from the
development of New Zealand’s aviation connectivity might be realised by diversifying the reform tools
used to progress liberalisation objectives. In essence, diversification of the types of agreements or
negotiating modalities is needed, depending on the liberalisation objectives being pursued, which, in
turn, may vary from market to market. This paper suggests that New Zealand should, therefore, not
necessarily abandon the use of bilateral air services agreements altogether, but, where possible, should
look to arrange plurilateral and regional agreements in the short-to-medium term, with a conscious
view that such developments may progressively lead to multilateral air services liberalisation
arrangements in the longer-term.
