Performance and prospects of smaller UK regional airports

Nigel Halpern and Anne Graham
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Nigel Halpern: Professor of Air Transport and Tourism Management in the Department of Marketing, Kristiania University College, Norway

Journal of Airport Management, 2017, vol. 11, issue 2, 180-201

Abstract: This paper investigates the traffic and financial performance of smaller UK regional airports between 2001 and 2014. Fourteen airports that typically serve less than 5 million passengers per annum were selected for the analysis. A period of strong growth in passenger demand was experienced from 2001 to 2007, driven largely by low cost carriers. The period from 2007 to 2014 was characterised by declining demand, resulting in significant losses for many of the airports. Airline strategies, such as the use of an increased unit fleet size and average sector length, may further limit future prospects for smaller UK regional airports in favour of larger ones with greater local demand. The relationship between traffic throughput and the generation of aeronautical revenues seems to vary at airports. There is generally a strong and significant relationship between traffic throughput and the generation of commercial revenues and total operating costs at airports serving 3–5 million passengers, but the situation for airports serving fewer than 3 million is less certain.

Keywords: regional airports; traffic developments; financial performance; United Kingdom (UK); airport ownership; airline strategies; low cost carriers; airport capacity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: M1 M10 R4 R40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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