Market power and the need for regulation in the German airport market

Robert Malina

No 10, Working Papers from Institute of Transport Economics, University of Muenster

Abstract: With the increasing profit orientation of German airport operators the question as to weather they possess market power is gaining more importance. Whereas there have been some studies about the degree of market power of individual airports in countries as Australia and Great Britain, the German airport market has not yet been studied in detail. This paper is a part of a research project that tries to assess market power in this market. It indicates which of the 35 examined German airports possess market power and therefore need special regulatory attendence. We calculate a substitution coefficient for inter-airport competition that quantifies the quality of the best substitute for a certain airport. It is defined as the proportion of inhabitants within the relevant regional market of an airport that consider another airport, which has been identified as meeting the demands of the airlines, to be a good substitute from their perspective as well. The analysis is complemented by an assessment of intermodal substitution and countervailing power of airlines. The study gives strong indication that 23 out of the 35 German airports do not possess relevant market power. In contrast to this, four airports (HAM, FRA, MUC, STR) and Berlin Airport System (THF, TXL, SXF) have strong, five (BRE, DRS, LEJ, NUE, HAJ) have modest market power. The results provide a basis for the construction of an efficient regulatory framework for the German airport market.

Keywords: airport competition; counterveiling power; market power; substitution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D42 L93 R48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2005-10, Revised 2006-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-cse, nep-mic and nep-reg
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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