Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 July 2016
The Edwards Report is the first comprehensive survey of British Civil Aviation for over thirty years, and it recognises this fact by supplying detailed examination of many aspects of the industry. In this review of the report selection will be made of what appears to be the salient policies of the report and around which the other recommendations follow.
Central to the report's recommendations is the view that controlled oligopoly, in which fares are fixed by a Licensing Authority, will lead to the provision of a more desirable air service than either monopoly operation of “uncontrolled” competition in which freedom of entry and fare fixing is allowed so long as basic safety requirements are satisfied.