On the whole, these results confirm that air transport reforms aimed at liberalising entry (e.g. by
eliminating bilateral designation rules or extending charter rights) and prices involve significant benefits
for all categories of travellers. The empirical relevance of scale effects and the finding that both route and
industry environments matter for performance point to the potential gains to be obtained from the
simultaneous liberalisation of domestic/regional markets and international (long-haul) routes, which
encourages network optimisation and cost-efficiency while reducing price-cost margins. For these policies
to fully bear their fruits, however, constraints on airport access must be relaxed and strategic behaviour by
incumbents (e.g. through alliances and slot dominance) must be kept in check by appropriate competition