Book excerpt: The principle of airline substantial ownership and effective control is one of the biggest impediments to the air transport industry growth. Legitimately included in the bilateral agreements since 1946 for national security reasons, States have maintained the principle over the years and used it as a protectionist tool, as well as a bargaining chip. Today, considering that liberalization and globalization concepts are already well-established in the biggest industrial sectors, and a large number of cross-border investments occurs in most of the service sectors through mergers and acquisitions, the time is ripe to remove national restrictions on foreign investments from the airline industry. This comprehensive book identifies those factors that still justify the imposition of national ownership restrictions on airlines and examines the prospects for change in the current policies and regulatory regimes that support them. The readership includes specialists in government departments of transportation, civil aviation authorities and agencies, international organizations, airline executives concerned with general management, economic, legal and public affairs, aviation lawyers, airline pilot associations, law schools concerned with international aviation law.