Australian DIRD secretary says the international trend is moving away from liberalised air markets

Australia's Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development secretary Mike Mrdak, speaking at the CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation Summit, said (08-Aug-2014) international trends are moving away from liberalised air markets, especially in Europe and North America. Mr Mrdak said: "We are in a dangerous period... I am worried that every time we talk to European officials they keep coming back with terms such as fair competition, they seize on things like food miles and other arguments about why we should be more cautious about opening markets, which to me is really just pushing a protectionist position."