ABSTRACT
The trend towards the privatisation of government-owned assets gathered pace during the 1980s as part of overall economic programmes introduced by more capitalist governments. This was encouraged by aid agencies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Policies pursued by the latter became increasingly influenced by the USA, their major donor country. However, by the early 2000s, the scope for further privatisation of airlines had largely petered out in Europe, with TAP Air Portugal and airlines in some of the former Eastern European countries still in government hands. Progress in other regions, notably Asia and Africa, had always been slow, and many of these countries still cling to the concept of the national flag carrier. Indeed, many of the newly independent countries that were created by the breakup of the former Soviet Union established their own government-owned flag carrier.
