The economic impact of the inoperability of the airport at a small-island tourism destination: The case of Madeira

Almeida, António, Luiz Pinto Machado and Brian Garrod

Journal of Air Transport Management, 2025, vol. 128, issue C

Abstract: Climate change means that tourism on small islands is increasingly vulnerable to the disruptive effects of adverse weather conditions. Many small islands rely upon a single airport, so when weather conditions cause inbound flights to be delayed, diverted, or even cancelled, this will tend to reduce tourists' length of stay. There may also be longer-term damage to the destination's image in terms of transport reliability. This paper sets out to estimate the economic impact of weather-related flight delays and cancellations at a small-island tourism destination. Using Madeira as an example, a two-stage estimation approach was developed using both primary and secondary data. Based on the premise that around 1% of tourists are affected by delays that result in shorter stays, several scenarios were developed and estimates of their economic impacts computed. The results suggest that while the short-term economic impact may be relatively small, the longer-term effects may be more substantial.

Keywords: Airport; Destination image; Disruptive weather; Economic impact; Inoperability; Length of stay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:128:y:2025:i:c:s0969699725001085

DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102845

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