For one thing, national carriers may now plunge into markets from which they were once banned.

Rather, they plan to become a wholesale supplier of service to big national carriers.

"When you get to a certain size, I don't see how it really makes you that much different from a national carrier," he said.

Regional players simply aren't competing with the big national carriers for the same market.

Today the airport is served by an increasing number of national and international carriers.

This allowed a fair competition between national and foreign carriers.

It started operations on 1 June 1946 and was designated the national carrier in 1949.

The network will give access to both national and international carriers.

At the same time, national carriers are introducing their own prepaid phone services.

People Express, for example, failed when it tried to become a major national carrier.