Market Power and Vertical (Dis)integration? Airline Networks and Destination Development in the United States and Dubai

The competitive strategies of the airline industry have substantially impacted both overall accessibility levels and the economic performance of major tourist destinations across the world. During the 1970s, the development of the jet engine and wide-bodied aircra essentially triggered the era of mass tourism in places like Florida, Greece, Hawaii and Spain. In subsequent decades, the airline industry has experienced radical shis in the regulatory regime that sets airfares and authorises air routes and these major changes have further altered the geography of leisure destinations. For example, the deregulation of airline markets in both the USA and the European Union (EU) increased airline management’s freedom to restructure route networks and, thus, substantially altered accessibility levels in certain key leisure markets.