The theme of ACI EUROPE’s Regional Airports conference in 1995 was “Should regional airports try harder?” – a pertinent question at the time, but one to which, there was ultimately only one answer. YES.
By Robert O’Meara
It was 1995, the 5th year of ACI EUROPE’s existence and the forthcoming liberalisation of air traffic rights across the European Union was a hot topic among airports, airlines and other aviation stakeholders.
ACI EUROPE, then under the leader-ship of its founder, Philippe Hamon, decided that the theme of its 5th Regional Airports Conference would be “Should regional airports try harder?” – a pertinent question at the time, but one to which, there was ultimately only one answer. YES.
As happens all too often in life, fate determined the road ahead as all of the EU’s work on air traffic rights liberalisation within the European Union reached fruition in 1997. Airports quickly realised that there was much to gain from going out and attracting airlines to set up new routes, rather than waiting for them to come to you. Competition was the new name of the game. Airports were no longer the wallflowers waiting to be asked to dance. They could go out and do the asking themselves instead.
Suddenly, the airport business was no longer about helplessly humouring the ups and downs of your home carrier, as the whole culture of proactive route development through airport marketing and incentives, broad air traffic and air-line client mix and strategic partnerships with regional agencies all took flight. Airports became proactive in the pursuit of new business and the resulting growth in air traffic was a boon to airlines and consumers across the EU.
Ryanair and easyJet in particular were among the earliest beneficiaries of this new competition which allowed them to cherrypick the best offers from airports and pass on low prices to passengers.
Route development is now core to the business strategy of any airport – big or small. Even key major hubs invest in it, mindful of the growing hub competition out there to attract intercontinental carriers. You could even argue that it is where some airport brands were born.
All of this helped to draw external investors to the airport business – another factor that acted as a further catalyst for the business transformation of the airport, from functional state utility to performant, strategic company. Today, 51% of Europe’s airports are still unprofitable – due to high fixed costs contributing to structural difficulties in achieving economies of scale below 1 million passengers a year. But we are light years from where we were in 1995.
