ABSTRACT
In 2004 Goldman Sachs, in a study for the government of Ireland on the future of Aer Lingus, found that of 18 European countries examined only five retained 100 per cent state ownership of the national airline. The states were Malta, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece and Portugal. This chapter examines the decline of the once-dominant national airline model in European aviation policy using Aer Lingus as a case study.
