ABSTRACT
The commercial anomaly of bilateral negotiations between States for air traffic rights for their national carriers has resulted in a steady evolutionary process of unique competition among carriers. Given the free market competition expanding around the globe the emergence of free trade agreements such as North American Free Trade Agreement, European Free Trade Agreement, free market forces within the European Union, protectionism in commercial aviation should give way to some degree of liberalization in the least. The Fourth International Civil Aviation Organization World-wide Air Transport conference addressed the issue of preferential measures for carriers of developing countries, which would ensure that they would not be at a disadvantage when competing with carriers of developed countries which were greater in size. This initiative emerged from the general view that developing countries would be in favour of liberalization of air transport if the conditions of competition included such preferential measures for their carriers.
