  We analytically calculate the transverse energy fluxes that would be
respectively induced in high-power Airy beams by the Kerr self-focusing and the
Airy profile itself if they were the only active process. In experimental
condition representative of laser filamentation experiments of high-power
ultrashort laser pulses in air and condensed media, the Kerr lens induces
transverse energy fluxes much larger than the Airy "prism" at the main peak. As
a consequence, the curved plasma channels in Airy beams are not only a plasma
spark on a curved focus, but indeed self-guided filaments, and their curved
trajectory appears as a perturbation due to the linear Airy propagation regime.

Optics