Peter P.C. Haanappel
International Aviation Framework and Implications for Canadian Policy

The paper first examines current trends in international air transport, including international air transport to and from Canada. These trends include open skies agreements and their provisions on airline alliances; efforts toward air transport liberalization in international organizations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation 
and Development; and the creation of regional common aviation areas, in particular the European Union and the European Economic Area and the proposed Transatlantic Common Aviation Area. The second part of the paper discusses the legal and regulatory implications for Canada, if it allowed, as a matter of policy, foreign airlines and investors to participate in domestic air transport. This includes the implications of granting cabotage rights to non-Canadian airlines and of allowing foreign airlines and/or investors to establish themselves as Canadian carriers, including the potential effects on airline ownership and control clauses in Canada's bilateral air service agreements.