An empirical analysis of global airline alliances: Cases in North Atlantic markets

This paper empirically investigates the effects on air fares, passenger volume, and consumer surplus of four major alliances in North Atlantic aviation markets. The four alliances are British Airways/USAir, Delta/Sabena/Swissair, KLM/Northwest, and Lufthansa/United Airlines. We find that equilibrium passenger volume increased by some 36,000 passengers annually and equilibrium air fares decreased by an average of $41 on the routes served by the allying carriers, and that consumers were generally better off due to the alliances.