The role of small airports in economic development

Kenneth Button, Soogwan Doh and Junyang Yuan

Journal of Airport Management, 2010, vol. 4, issue 2, 125-136

Abstract: As one of the most important transport modes in the USA, air transportation has both influenced economic development and been influenced by it. Knowing the scale of these effects is important both for the development and management of airports, and for policy makers who make strategic decisions regarding airport planning and investment. Prior studies of the economic impacts of air transportation have focused mainly on the ties between large airports and regional economic development. Much less attention has been paid to the impact of small airports on their local areas. Some argue that small airports operating a passenger model not unlike an urban transit service can contribute significantly to regional economic development. However, with the exception of some work on high-income tourist destinations, previous studies provide little clear evidence to support a strong positive correlation between local air transportation and economic development. Furthermore, the direction of causation between air traffic and economic development is not entirely clear: regional economic development driven by other factors can lead to more air traffic; however, it is also possible that by generating traffic, airports act as a catalyst for local investment. This study uses a sample of 66 small airports in Virginia to explore the functional relationship between local air transportation and regional economic development.

Keywords: regional airports; economic development; Virginia's airports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M10 R4 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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