Report on capacity of airport infrastructure

Abstract

This report examines the current capacity of the EU’s airport infrastructure and highlights in a general way the main factors determining that capacity. In the report, the nature and the role of airport services are detailed and the multi-service networked industry that characterises airport operations is described. The determination of airport capacity is examined. Detailed discussion is given of the influence which air traffic control factors, demand characteristics, environmental conditions and the engineering design and layout of the runway system will have on that capacity. The methods used to assess capacity and delay are also detailed. Extensive data is presented from the Association of European Airlines (AEA) and EUROCONTROL’s Centre for Delay Analysis (CODA) to sketch the current state of Europe’s system of large airports.and the extent to which existing infrastructure is congested. This system of airports represents the main infrastructure of Europe’s aviation sector. The options available to policy makers to improve the management and organisation of existing capacity are set out and critically discussed. Tables giving the advantages and disadvantages of different demand management policies and procedures are presented, thus summarising the extensive literature in this area. Following on from this, several important issues arising when capacity needs to be expanded are highlighted. A number of practical difficulties are pinpointed and the tradeoffs facing policymakers are explained. For instance, where liberalisation has encouraged airlines to increase their frequency of service by, among other things, utilising smaller aircraft, this has the effect of using up available capacity at airports faster than would otherwise have been the case. Policymakers can influence the average size of aircraft in a positive way (which will have significant environmental benefits) through the pricing or airport charging policy. The balance between facilitating growth particularly of new entrant carriers on one hand, and emphasising environmental and sustainability goals on the other, will have to be addressed. The final section of the report relates these discussions to the issue of interoperability and briefly outlines some of the important policy considerations in this area.