Liberalized Air Service Agreements Would Spur Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Liberalized air service agreements would generate a host of economic benefits, including more jobs, more travel and tourism, and more opportunities for consumers and shippers, according to a new study released by the United States Chamber of Commerce and 11 industry groups.

"The benefits to economies worldwide from liberalized air travel are real and substantive," said Carol Hallett, of Counsel to the Chamber. "As an example, liberalization of air service agreements in just 320 of the 2,000 country-pairs would generate an estimated 24.1 million full-time jobs and $490 billion in worldwide GDP, an amount comparable to the size of Brazil's economy."

The first-of-its-kind study, called Economic Impact of Air Service Liberalization, quantifies the economic impacts of changes in aviation policy based on an economic model developed by InterVISTAS-ga2 Consulting. Data from more than 190 nations and 2,000 country-pairs was used. Other findings of the study include the following:

• Countries that liberalized air traffic experienced growth in air service of 12% to 50% or more.
• Fully liberalizing the United States-United Kingdom market alone would create 117,000 new jobs and $7.8 billion.
• The creation of the Single European Aviation Market in 1993 led to an average annual growth rate in traffic between 1995 and 2004 that was almost double the rate of growth that existed between 1990 and 1994. This enhanced growth in traffic produced 1.4 million new jobs.

Industry groups involved in the study include Airports Council International N.A., Air Transport Action Group, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, The Boeing Company, The European-American Business Council, The Franco-American Chamber of Commerce, The International Air Transport Association, The Pacific Asia Travel Association, The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council, and The World Travel and Tourism Council.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

www.uschamber.com

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