Domestic laws and agreements among regional countries on ownership and control of airlines should be liberalised in order to bring in more foreign investments and meet growing demand from trade and tourism, an aviation law professor at the National University of Singapore has proposed.

Arguing against the protectionist nature of the aviation sector, NUS Law School professor Alan Tan called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to take a leaf out of the European Union’s (EU) book, by creating a “community carrier” — with no restriction on ownership rights and flight routes — to serve the region.

His proposal was published in a paper on Wednesday (Dec 27) by Malaysian think-tank Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs. Prof Tan, who was born in Malaysia, has been engaged as a consultant on aviation liberalisation in Asia by Asean, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.

“The result will be greater benefits for the Asean air transportation system, allowing airlines to operate more efficiently and to meet growing demand from trade and tourism,” said the paper authored by Prof Tan.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by Tan Weizhen

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