Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor in Aerospace Research Institute, Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Public International Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

After the growth of the air transport industry and the transformation of the sky into one of the main options for transporting cargo and passengers, the number of flight operations increased and the airports of many cities faced heavy air traffic. To solve the latter problem, the United States of America and the Council of Europe tried to draw up a mechanism for using the airports in question by developing a set of regulations, whereby each airline can only land and take off at the same airport if it receives an airport slot from each airport. However, the development of such regulations caused some airlines to have almost no chance of receiving an airport slot at many airports. The main question of the present research is whether an airline can access airports that do not have an airport slot through the conclusion of a codeshare agreement? If the answer is yes, what criteria will be applicable to this agreement? The authors have used a descriptive-analytical method to find a reasonable answer to the latter question. The overall results of the study, while considering the conclusion of a codeshare agreement under certain conditions as an innovative solution for airlines to access airports that do not have airport slots, also identify 5 criteria applicable to such an agreement.

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