AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY OF PRIVATE VERSUS PUBLIC AIRPORTS

In the United States, most airports used by commercial airlines are owned and operated by the public sector. However, the trend towards airport privatization in other countries has stimulated new thinking in this regard both from the federal government and businesses. As the privatization trend in the airport industry continues, airport managers are facing increased pressure to find more cost-efficient ways of running their airports, and implementing improvement standards will become a necessity. This paper compares the efficiency of privatized and government-owned airports using detailed information on fifteen airports, both private and public, chosen based on their similarity in hub size. Ratio and regression analyses were used for measuring airport performance. Findings indicate that government-owned airports have better operating efficiency in terms of passengers per runway area, movements per gate, and movements per runway, while privatized airports have higher financial efficiencies such as revenue per passenger and revenue per landing. Countries with privatized airports generally impose some form of price regulation or landing fees, so privatization does not always insure that citizens get the services they require from government at lower cost. Airport profitability appears to be the result of the relationship between regulatory controls, choice of market, market power and productivity.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/49807676
• Corporate Authors:

  Aviation Institute

  University of Nebraska, 60th and Dodge Streets
  Omaha, NE  United States  68182-0508
• Authors:
  • Vasigh, B
  • Haririan, M
• Publication Date: 2003

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 91-110
• Serial:
  • Journal of Air Transportation
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Aviation Institute
  • ISSN: 1544-6980

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport operations; Airports; Cost effectiveness; Economic analysis; Economic efficiency; Empirical methods; Financial analysis; Financial ratios; Governments; Operating ratios; Private enterprise; Privatization; Profitability; Regression analysis
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Data and Information Technology; Economics; Finance; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00939666
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 30 2003 12:00AM