Jimenez Edgar, Suau-Sanchez Pere
Centre for Air Transport Management, Cranfield University, Martell House, University Way, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0TR, UK.
Faculty of Business and Economics, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Av. Tibidabo, 39-43, Barcelona 08035, Spain.
J Transp Geogr. 2020 Oct;88:102847. doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102847. Epub 2020 Aug 25.
This paper discusses the long-term effects of low-cost carrier (LCC) presence at European airports and identifies the airports that have benefited the most from LCC consolidation since 2001. The research uses 'LCC Market Share', in terms of seats, to measure the relative importance of LCCs within each airport; and introduces 'EU LCA Rank' as a normalised metric of the capacity share of every airport in the European low-cost segment. It evaluates the trends between 2001 and 2019 in all airports in Europe using OAG supply information (seats by carrier). Results show two different phases of LCC rise in Europe, 2001 to 2008 and 2009 to 2019, marked by the effects of the financial crisis of the Great Recession. The analysis highlights the role that LCCs have played in boosting the growth of both primary and secondary airports. Indeed, despite the fact that LCCs have put many smaller airports on the European map, during the second phase of the period of analysis growth has been more significant for major airports and for a few airports that were keen to support the earliest development of LCCs. In that sense, this paper contributes to a better understanding of the historical and contemporary dynamics in European LCCs choice of airports and, in particular, the long-term effects that this disruptive business model have had for airports. This is increasingly important in the context of a potential recovery path from the effects of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper also attempts to settle academic discussions that attach LCC development to secondary/regional airports disregarding the wide range of strategies used by airlines and airports.
本文探讨了低成本航空公司（LCC）进驻欧洲机场的长期影响，并确定了自2001年以来从低成本航空公司整合中受益最大的机场。该研究使用“低成本航空公司市场份额”（以座位数计算）来衡量低成本航空公司在每个机场中的相对重要性；并引入“欧盟低成本航空公司排名”作为衡量每个机场在欧洲低成本航空市场容量份额的标准化指标。它利用OAG的航班供应信息（按航空公司划分的座位数）评估了2001年至2019年欧洲所有机场的发展趋势。结果显示，欧洲低成本航空公司的发展呈现出两个不同阶段，即2001年至2008年以及2009年至2019年，这两个阶段以大衰退期间金融危机的影响为标志。分析突出了低成本航空公司在推动主要机场和次要机场增长方面所发挥的作用。事实上，尽管低成本航空公司让许多较小的机场在欧洲崭露头角，但在分析期的第二阶段，主要机场以及一些积极支持低成本航空公司早期发展的机场增长更为显著。从这个意义上讲，本文有助于更好地理解欧洲低成本航空公司选择机场的历史和当代动态，特别是这种颠覆性商业模式对机场产生的长期影响。在从应对新冠疫情影响的潜在复苏路径的背景下，这一点变得越来越重要。本文还试图解决一些学术讨论，这些讨论将低成本航空公司的发展与次要/地区机场联系起来，而忽视了航空公司和机场所采用的广泛策略。
