ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of airport competition from its negative side, that is, in terms of the absence of sufficient competition. This absence of competition may simply stem from the fact that airports enjoy a monopoly position over their own infrastructure. Whereas in a functioning market, market forces would control the behaviour of all market participants, these normally endogenously generated constraints do not exist in dominated markets. It is for this reason that general competition law aims to substitute these absent market constraints with rules that subject the dominant firm to a set of specific legal obligations. The respective provision of European competition law is enshrined in Article 82 EC-Treaty. 1 National competition law contains similar regulations for cases without cross-border concerns. These obligations do not demand specific positive behaviour, but prohibit any abuse of a dominant position.
