EU Accession and Civil Aviation Regimes: Malta and Cyprus as a Case Study

摘要

Aviation deregulation is usually a challenging and demanding task and accession to the European Union requires that all candidate states should harmonise their legislation in the context of the European Common Aviation Area. Malta and Cyprus, the small Mediterranean island-states to join the EU in 2004, will have to abandon any protectionist policies in favour of their flag-carriers and let them survive in a liberal flamework. The paper discusses the implications of this regime change for civil aviation in Malta and Cyprus and in addition to the airline industry, it examines the impacts on the complementary tourism sector. Unless carrying capacity limits are understood, the islands may become victims of successful airline liberalisation. The paper concludes by stressing the need for sustainable development and active policymaking.