In many countries, great attention is devoted to the development of regional airports, both to face the congestion situation at the main hubs and to help the economic development of some decentralized areas. In this context many actors can play an important role, such as airport planners, air companies (including low-cost companies) and users (passengers and/or freight), in producing important demand levels at airports thanks to their travel choices. More studies all over the world concern the analysis of airport systems in order to verify the role of each airport and the effects on the main, congested hub(s). Particularly, an efficient use of resources suggests considering the role of existing, regional airports before starting the building of new airports. In this light, this book gives an overview of the main topics concerning the different aspects of the potential development of regional airports.In particular it covers the economic aspects, the role of low-cost companies, the air demand modelling, the airport, airline and access mode choices, the relationships between hub capacity constraints and regional airports growth, together with an overview of the main tendencies, strategies and policies that have been started in EU and Asia.
Examples of different airports throughout the world are presented as test cases with respect to the various aspects.
Chapter 1: Economic aspects of regional airport development Introduction; Transport and economic development; The economic impacts of airports; Factor movements; Finance and ownership; Retaining air services; Conclusions; References Chapter 2: Development of regional airports in EU Introduction; Main transport policies to assure easy mobility within EU; Airports in the EU perspective; Low-cost carrier and regional airports; Conclusions; References Chapter 3: The development of regional airports in Asia Introduction; Aviation policy; Air transport development between China and Taiwan; Low-cost carriers and regional airports; Conclusions; References Chapter 4: Air demand modelling: overview and application to a developing regional airport Introduction; Demand modelling and airport catchment area; Demand model classification; An overview of the Italian airport system; Application to a test case; References Chapter 5: Theory and practice in modelling air travel choice behaviour Introduction; Air travel choice behaviour; Guidance for good modelling practice and contrast with status quo; Data issues; Model structure; Empirical example; Summary and conclusions; Acknowledgements; References Chapter 6: Practical airport demand forecasting with capacity constraint: methodology and application Introduction; Approach; Demand forecasts; Supply forecasts; Capacity constraint; Case study 1: Amsterdam airport capacity planning; Case study 2: The impact of air flight tax in the Netherlands; Conclusion; Acknowledgements; References Chapter 7: Regional airports and opportunities for low-cost carriers in Australia Introduction; An overview of airline activity and regional airports in Australia; Establishing a framework in which to investigate the role of regional airports and airline activity; Model data; Results of base year models; Scenario assessment - introduction of low-cost carriers; Conclusions
