Creating Employment and Prosperity in Europe

A study by ACI EUROPE
of the social and economic
impact of airports
Creating Employment
and Prosperity
in Europe
September 1998

Contents Creating Employment
and Prosperity
in Europe
Executive Summary 2
Introduction 3
Airports Making a Direct Contribution 5
Airports as Economic Generators 10
Airports as Strategic Catalysts 13
Airports as Vital Social Links 18
Airports - Contributors to
Sustainable Economic Development 22
Conclusion 25
Tables 27

➤
Direct Impact
Indirect and
Induced Impact
Catalytic Impact
Total Impact
Executive Summary
This study confirms the findings of ACI
EUROPE's 1992 Study on the Economic Impact
of Airports that “Airports are major economic
assets offering major economic returns and
benefits. Decisions made in respect of airports
are decisions that affect local regional and economic
performance".
This study has examined the latest evidence
on the economic impact of Europe's airports.
The most commonly used measure is the
impact on employment. The latest research
confirms that, on average, airports directly create
1,100 jobs for every million passengers
handled in a year. Unlike in other transport
modes, airports make a sizeable direct economic
contribution both in terms of jobs created
and income generated.
Indirect and induced impact are derived
from the quantification of direct impact by way
of multipliers or input-output analysis, taking
into account the characteristics of the area
served by each airport. Here again, the study
confirms that the indirect impact of an airport's
operation is substantial. It shows that the total
of the direct, indirect and induced employment
impact of an airport averages 2,200 jobs per
million passengers - often more than double
that of the direct/on-site employment alone.
1,100 jobs per million passengers
1,100 jobs per million passengers
1,800 jobs per million passengers
4,000 jobs per million passengers
Airports play a fundamental role in attracting
and retaining industry in their surrounding areas
as evidenced by independent surveys of industrial
location. Although the quantified impact across
the sample of airports varies widely, it is clear
that the employment and wider beneficial economic
effects can be substantial.
In general, the catalytic or spin-off impact
increases the employment impact of an airport
to 1.8 times the measured direct and indirect
impacts. The total impact of an airport in its surrounding
area can amount to 4,000 jobs per million
passengers, taking all factors into account.
In a modern society, the right to travel is a
fundamental human right. Creation of a greater
European community offering equality of
opportunity to all citizens, requires this accessibility
to be sustained for the outlying regions
as well as for the industrial conurbations at the
core. Only air service links can sustain the
rapid accessibility demanded by the next millenium.
Many outlying communities would wither
and die without the opportunities for economic
and social participation afforded by airports
and air service access. Air service access
is also vitally important to the growing world
tourism industry, particularly in countries such
as Greece and Spain with high dependency on
inbound tourism. Furthermore, air transport is
a vital element in opening up the considerable
and so far untapped tourist potential of the
remote regions of Eastern Europe.
The very fact that airports are substantial
generators of employment opportunities contributes
substantially to the social welfare of those
living nearby. High levels of unemployment can
be one of the largest contributory causes of ill
health and social distress. The beneficial social
impact of airport-related employment opportunities
cannot therefore be underestimated.
The principle of sustainable development
requires that the benefits of any development
must be carefully weighed against the resources
to be consumed. This study highlights that the
social and economic benefits of airport operation
and expansion are perhaps more substantial
that originally believed by those who oppose
airport development. Given the sound principles
of environmental management exhibited by airports
and the aviation industry in general, these
benefits cannot be ignored. For the social and
economic good of Europe as a whole, its airports
must be encouraged to flourish.
This study was launched on the initiative of
Dipl.-Volkswirt SSE Willi Hermsen (President,
Munich Airport) during his term as President of
ACI EUROPE from June 1997 to June 1998, who
says “This major study will be invaluable to airports,
to legislators, regulators, politicians and the
public. It proves beyond any doubt the contribution
made by airports to the social and economic
well-being of our regions and indeed our nations".
2

Introduction
In 1992, ACI EUROPE published a study
“Airports – Partners in Vital Economies", which
gave a general outline of their economic worth.
The conclusions of that report remain valid and
are worth restating:-
“Airports are major economic assets offering
major economic returns and benefits. Decisions
made in respect of airports are decisions that
affect local regional and economic performance."
This was followed in 1993 by a complementary
Study Kit which prompted many individual
airports to carry out their own analysis
of their economic impact.
Since that time the aviation industry in
Europe has shown rapid growth, with passengers
handled at Europe's airports increasing by
35% and freight handled by 44% to almost
790 million passengers and 11.5 million tonnes
of freight in 1997. In 1996 alone, employment
at Europe's airports grew by 9%.
The European Union has liberalised the air
transport market so that aviation can maximise
its contribution to the economic life of the Union
and indeed of the countries of the extended
European Aviation Area. Air transport provides
the vital accessibility to all of Europe's regions
necessary to exploit the full economic potential
of the enlarged single market. Air transport and
airports will assume greater significance in
Europe's economic life as more nations accede to
the Union. As the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) recently
reported (1997):-
“The international aviation industry is an
integral part of the modern, global economy,
both influencing and being influenced by the
pattern of economic development."
Not only do airports play a fundamental role
in linking Europe's citizens and markets but they
act as significant direct generators of economic
activity. Unlike in other modes of transport, airports
act as focal points of employment in their
own right.
Since 1992, many airports have evaluated
their economic impact, often in connection
with proposals for expansion and these have
formed the basis of the current study. All
member airports were encouraged to send ACI
EUROPE their recent economic impact studies in
➤ 3

➤
order to provide the widest possible sample. ACI
EUROPE has been aided in compiling this study
by York Consulting of the UK who have collated
the evidence from over 30 contributed economic
impact studies carried out in Europe and
elsewhere. Indeed the detailed report of York
Consulting, which provided the raw material for
the current study, are available on request.
This study examines the direct economic
impact of airports, primarily in terms of the
jobs which they create. It looks at how this
direct impact spreads throughout the area surrounding
each airport via induced and indirect
impacts. Airports also play a vital role in
attracting and sustaining the wider economic
activity in their catchment areas, both in terms
of the industrial base and the increasingly
important tourism industry. The study also
covers the often-forgotten contribution of airports
to society, both directly and in providing
lifeline links to remote areas.
Although the demand for air travel in
Europe continues to grow as a consequence of
and in support of economic growth, the aviation
industry and airports, in particular, are
coming under increasing pressure from those
seeking to protect the environment. This study
seeks to set the contribution of airports into the
context of sustainable development.
Wherever possible the figures used have been
put onto a comparable basis. However, airports
vary in the size and scale of their impact and this
study highlights the factors underlying the differences.
This will assist other airports to assess their
own impact in relation to the characteristics of the
airport, its catchment area and the role it plays.
The most obvious way in which airports
impact on their local economies is through their
direct role in job creation. However, airports
make their full contribution in different ways:
Indirect Impact
Employment, income/value-added, output
and tax revenues generated in the economy in
the chain of suppliers of goods and services to
the direct activities, for example - utilities,
retail goods, advertising and cleaning.
Induced Impact
Employment, income/value-added, output
and tax revenues generated by the expenditure
of the direct and indirect employment incomes,
for example - purchases by employees with companies
located throughout the economy of the
local area.
Catalytic Impact
Employment, income/value-added, output and
tax revenues generated by the attraction, retention
or expansion of economic activity within the
economy of the study area as a result of accessibility
to markets due to the airport, for example -
inward investment by companies located approximately
within 60 minutes of the airport by road.
Overall Impact
The sum of the direct, indirect, induced and
catalytic impacts.
Framework of Economic Impact Analysis
Indirect Impact
Direct Impact
Direct Impact
Induced Impact
4
Employment, income/value added, output
and tax-revenues wholly or largely related to
the operation of the airport and generated
either on-site or in the immediately surrounding
area, for example - airport company, airlines,
handling agents, control authorities, freight
agents, concessions, visitor facilities, courier services,
haulage contractors, aircraft servicing,
flight caterers, fuel storage and distribution and
warehousing and storage.
Figure 1
Overall Impact
Catalytic Impact
Source: York Consulting
N.B. Unless otherwise indicated all Figures in the
study are taken from Tables 1 and 2 compiled by York
Consulting (see pages 27 and 28).

Airports Making a Direct
Contribution
Airports are like factories, producing units
of air transport through a complex interaction
of resources and processes. As with other major
industries, airports make a major economic
impact on their surrounding areas, providing
direct employment, economic prosperity and
stability to regions. To understand the contribution
which an airport can make to a region,
its economic value needs to be quantified. This
section looks at the direct impact that airports
have on surrounding areas, primarily through
the employment they create.
The direct impact of an airport is estimated
by considering the economic value of the activities
of companies operating on-site at the airport
or adjacent to the airport whose operations
directly support on-site activity. “Economic
value” can be described generally as the
employment, income/value added, output and
tax revenues generated by the companies and
agencies operating at an airport.
Direct Employment
✈
Germany - it is estimated that currently
800,000 jobs depend directly or indirectly
on the air transport or aviation industry.
This contribution to the economic life of the
nation cannot be ignored. Many of these
jobs will arise in the vicinity of Germany's
airports, without which the continued
growth of this employment base cannot be
secured.
The most obvious source of economic benefit
is the employment of labour at or immediately
around the airport. This is the impact
most often studied and quantified. Airports are
often amongst the highest concentrations of
employment in their national and regional
economies and the areas adjacent to major airports
often have lower than average unemployment
rates. The production of air transport is
an extremely complex process, requiring a
multitude of inputs from a large number of different
companies and agencies. Figure 2 illustrates
the various companies that can typically
be expected to operate at an airport and contribute
to the direct impact.
There are three broad areas for employment
generated by airports:
• Airline related employment;
• Airport related employment
• Retail/commercial related employment.
➤ 5

➤
Structure of On-airport Employment
AIRLINE RELATED
AIRPORT RELATED
RETAIL RELATED
• Airlines
• Ground Handing Agents
• Flight Catering
• Fuel Services
• Cargo and Freight
Operators
• Aircraft Maintenance
• Airport Company
• Non-Airport Security
• Police
• Immigration
• Customs
•ATC
• Retail Shops
• Duty and
Tax Free Shops
• Restaurants
• Car Park Companies
• Car Hire Companies
Figure 2
Airline/Handling Co.
The total labour force required to resource
an airport draws from a broad spectrum of
skills, making airports sources of quality
employment using the full balance of skills
within local and regional areas. Airports are
often leading players in regional skills training
programmes. In 1996, 80% of those employed
across a sample of Europe's airports were men;
however women make up a growing proportion
of the workforce. Specifically, women made up
close to 60% of the part-time workforce, indicating
how airports may support women in
returning to the workforce. The proportion of
employees in each category of employment was
calculated across a wide range of European airports.
Figure 3 shows the aggregate breakdown
of employment in each of the six categories. On
average, over 50% of the direct employment
generated by airports comes from airlines and
handling agents. The airports' remaining direct
employment is split between the airport
operator (11%), freight/ cargo companies (8%),
concessionaires (9%), control agencies (7%) and
others such as fuelling companies, ground transport
operators (13%).
Categories of Airport
Employment
Airport Operator
The balance of employment in each category
can vary considerably between airports due to
a number of factors, including the size and
nature of the airport concerned. For example,
major maintenance facilities at smaller airports
such as Hamburg and Cardiff, and a focus on
cargo at airports like Brussels and Valencia
tend to dominate the employment statistics for
those airports.
The figure of 1,000 on-site jobs for every
million passengers per annum (mppa) is often
quoted. An analysis across 23 airports in Europe
reveals significant variations around this
average but confirms the broad ratio. Direct airport
employment can also be located off-site in
the vicinity of an airport, particularly if the airport
operates within a constrained site. Some
studies interpret this employment as indirect
employment and this is one factor why it may be
difficult to make direct comparisons between
one study and another. Airports such as Gatwick
can appear to have lower than average employment
levels if off-site direct employment is
excluded. As illustrated by Table 1 (see page 27),
direct employment averages 1,168 employees
per million passengers across our sample of 23
European airports. On-site employment alone
averaged 1,109 employees per mppa across the
sample. However, off-site direct employment
can be substantial where it is measured, as illustrated
for 7 airports in Figure 4.
Other
Freight/Cargo
Concessions
Control Agencies
6
Figure 3

On- and Off-site Direct Employment
Airport Year Total Direct Employment
Passengers
(’000,000)
On-site Off-site Total % of Off-site
Employment
Amsterdam 1997 31.0 46,519 2,481 49,000 5.1
Barcelona 1994 10.7 4,503 400 4,903 8.2
Birmingham 1994 4.9 4,238 700 4,938 14.2
Heathrow 1991 40.5 52,527 6,470 58,742 11.0
Manchester 1993 13.1 12,193 6,900 19,093 36.1
Newcastle 1994 2.5 1,942 225 2,167 10.4
Zurich 1997 18.3 17,195 719 17,914 4.0
Figure 4
✈
✈
Range of Employment Impact
These averages conceal a range of figures
from 395 on-site employees per mppa at
Malaga to 2,815 employees per mppa at Exeter.
Airline bases can make a major difference:-
Heathrow - with British Airways
headquartered there, sustains 1,291
jobs per mppa.
Cardiff - Airline related employment
accounts for 1,129 out of 1,884 on-site
jobs at Cardiff largely as a result of British
Airways having chosen to locate a major
maintenance base there despite not having
substantial operations at that airport.
The development of relatively large cargo
businesses at some airports - such as Brussels
with its intensive cargo operations sustaining
1,980 jobs per mppa on site - means that using
the ‘jobs per mppa’ rule-of-thumb can overstate
an airport’s employment impact. An alternative
measure of employment density, taking
account of cargo operations, can be ‘jobs per
workload unit’ - defined as one passenger or
0.1 tonnes of freight. The average direct
employment density for the sample airports
was around 1,000 jobs per million workload
units, although this varied between 2,815
(Exeter) and 351 (Gran Canaria) jobs per million
work load units.
The factors determining the employment
density can be summarised as follows:
➢ structure of passenger traffic
scheduled/charter traffic, business/leisure
passengers and inbound or outbound passengers
➢ capacity utilisation
very small airports tend to have low capacity
utilisation with fixed staffing levels
➢ volume of freight
airports with high volumes of freight traffic
will generate higher levels of employment
per mppa
➢ role of airport
major hubs with a wide range of employment
activities tend to have higher employment
densities
➢ number of airlines based
airlines dominate on-site employment at
many airports, e.g.
• based crews
• maintenance facilities
• national or regional headquarters
➢ development opportunities
exploitation of associated airport related
activities such as office development
As shown in Figure 5, a scatter-plot of
employment and passenger numbers across a
range of airports demonstrates the strength and
direction of the employment density relationship,
confirming the approximate 1,000 jobs per
million passengers rule-of-thumb. Although
growth is not necessarily linear, Figure 6 illustrates
that employment continues to grow as an
airport develops.
➤ 7

➤
✈
✈
Further interpretation of the employment
data reveals that there are four broad categories
of airport employment impact related to density,
as illustrated in Figure 7. These categories
explain the wide variation in employment density
at European airports.
Income and Tax Effects
As well as generating employment, airports
contribute to their local economies by way of
the income injected - manifesting itself in part
through induced employment. In 1996, Europe's
airports earned revenues of 13 billion Euros and
invested 3.6 billion Euros in the creation of new
airport capacity. Such investment in infrastructure,
as well as creating the capacity for future
growth of the industry, also leads to the creation
of further temporary employment.
Increasingly, airports also contribute directly
to their national and regional economies through
tax revenues. These taxes can comprise:-
➢ Income or corporation tax
➢ Property tax
➢ Licence fees
➢ VAT
➢ Specific air transport taxes - such as the UK
air passenger duty
Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Malaga
have low on-site employment densities
partly because of the dependence on
incoming tourism traffic but also because of
the centralised organisation structure of the
Spanish airports. However, the economic
importance of these airports to the regions
which they serve is high because of the
high dependence on the tourism industry.
Manchester - the development of the
airport from a capacity of 18m passengers
per year to 30m including construction
of the second runway is estimated
to be generating 25,900 person years
of employment during the planning and
phased construction process between
1993 and 2005.
On-site Employment Density
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Jobs
0 10 20 30 40 50
mppa
Growth of Direct On-and Off-site
Employment at Düsseldorf Airport
Employees or mppa
1972 1978 1984 1990 1997
Source: Düsseldorf Airport
✈
✈
Figure 5
staff
Passengers
Figure 6
Paris - On-site activity at the two main
Paris Airports is estimated to have
generated 2.6 billion Euros of
income/value added in 1996.
UK - In 1997/98 BAA paid the equivalent
of 146 million Euros in taxes to the
national exchequer from their trading
activities.
8

Typology of On-site Employment at European Airports
Jobs/mppa or
workload unit
VERY HIGH DENSITY
(1,500+ jobs
per mppa/unit)
1500
1100
750
350
LOW DENSITY
(350-750 jobs
per mppa/unit)
Low/Medium Passengers/Freight
Domestic Traffic
Charter Traffic
High Utilisation
No Airlines Based
Limited Development
Barcelona
Gran Canaria
Milan
MEDIUM DENSITY
(750-1,100 jobs
per mppa/unit)
Medium/High Passengers/Freight
International Traffic
Scheduled Traffic
Some Airlines Based
Significant Development
Munich
Oslo
Zurich
HIGH DENSITY
(1,100-1,500 jobs
per mppa/unit)
International Hubs
High Passengers/Freight
International Traffic
Scheduled Traffic
Major Airlines Bases
Substantial Development
Heathrow
Paris CDG
Schiphol
Low/Medium Passengers
and Freight
Low Utilisation
Airline Headquarters
Airline Maintenance Bases
Brussels
Cardiff
Hamburg
Airports are generally a great deal more
resistant to economic downturn than other
industries whose employment prospects are
more volatile, because their activity is less
reliant on their national or local economy but
rather on the outworkings of the global economy,
for example in the balance between
imports and exports. In this way airports have
a role in providing stability as well as continued
growth to a regional or national economy.
Economic stability should not be undervalued;
airports can help regional economies to survive
industrial and labour-force restructuring.
Figure 7
It is clear, therefore, that airports, unlike
in many other transport modes, make a sizeable
direct economic contribution both in
terms of jobs created and income generated.
These jobs are many and varied in their
nature. This study confirms that the frequently-quoted
ratio of employment growing at
1,000 jobs on site per million passengers is a
conservative estimate. The average for the
airports in this study is 1,100 jobs per mppa.
✈
Vienna - in 1997, activity at Vienna
Airport generated a turnover of 1.8 billion
Euros. Of this, 15% was generated by the
airport company itself, with airlines
making up 60% of the total. This equated
to 1% of the Austrian GDP but 2.2% of the
regional economic output of Burgenland,
Lower Austria and Vienna. Vienna Airport
accounted for 0.7% of the national
employment and 1.5% in the region.
✈
An ACI Survey of 142 airports in 1996 has
identified a total of 543,518 employees at
those airports supporting 524.7 million
passengers, or 1,036 jobs per mppa.
The airport operators themselves accounted
for only 15% of this on-site employment.
➤ 9

➤
Airports as Economic
Generators
Airports - part of the Supply Chain
An airport not only generates employment
on site, but also outside the airport boundary,
and it influences far more than just its own site
and the employees working at the airport. The
airport has to rely on the surrounding industry
for the supply of its required goods and services.
This allows certain industries - those
which produce goods or services for the airport
- to grow in direct relation to the growth of the
airport. This will generate income locally
which, in turn, generates more demand for
other goods needed by the employees - induced
income and employment growth.
Most studies of the economic impact of airports
concentrate on direct impact. However, a
number of studies about the economic impact
of airports, made in recent years, have looked
at wider income and employment effects.
✈
Paris – The total income injection from
the two main Paris airports amounted to
almost 8 billion Euros in 1996 from an
on-site contribution of 2.6 billion Euros.
Crucial to understanding this wider impact
is an understanding of the study area examined
as the impact will tend to be greater, with less
leakage, the wider the study area considered.
However, the impact of an airport can be more
dramatic within the local area where much of
the indirect impact concentrates. The indirect
impact, through the supply chain, is often
tracked by the use of multiplier analysis or,
where sufficient data about relationships
between sectors in the relevant regional economy
exists, by input-output models. The results
of these analyses can be converted to multipliers
for comparative purposes.
Total Income Injection
Table 2 (page 28) shows the income effects
generated by a number of key airports, including
the study area considered (local, regional or
national). The total indirect impact (income) of
10 European airports amounts to an income of
2,309 million Euros, indicating the scale of
impact which airports can have on the
European economy.
10

✈
Manchester - The direct and indirect
impacts of the airport equate to a spending
power injection of in excess of 1 billion
Euros into the regional economy and a net
income to the North West region of the
United Kingdom of the order of 670 million
Euros. The development of a second
runway will lead to 100,000 jobs in
the region, with almost 25,000 on-site jobs
by 2005. This would equate to a spending
power injection of 2.5 billion Euros
to the regional economy, with the net
impact in the region in excess of 1.5 billion
Euros a year.
scale of the study area) to add to the some
335,000 jobs generated directly by the same 19
airports.
Across the airports for which data is available,
the total direct, indirect and induced
employment impact averages 2,681 jobs per
mppa, ranging from 921 jobs per mppa at
Barcelona to 5,128 jobs at Valencia. Whilst
there is a relatively strong relationship between
direct employment and passenger throughput,
as illustrated in Figure 5, the relationship
between direct employment and the total direct
and indirect employment generated by an airport
shows somewhat greater variability as
shown in Figure 8.
✈
Vienna - is developing a proposal to
become a multi-modal business centre
which will increase employment generated
over that of the airport alone by 12% by
2015
• If the airport does not expand 3,000-
3,500 jobs will be forfeited in the Austrian
economy by 2015.
Indirect and Induced Employment
The indirect impact of an airport can be
examined through the use of multipliers or
through input-output models to generate the
multipliers. Table 1 shows the multipliers across
a range of European airports. Off-site indirect
and induced employment can be more than
double that on the airport site itself.
The scale of the multiplier can also be a
function of the size of the study area. For
example, the relatively low multiplier for
Amsterdam is a reflection of the relatively
small size of the Dutch economy. Generally, the
larger the size of the study area, the greater the
multipliers will be.
The indirect employment impact of 19 out
of the 23 airports is shown in Table 1. Between
them, these airports alone generate around
400,000 jobs indirectly (dependent upon the
The relationship between Total Direct,
Indirect/induced Employment
and Direct Employment
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
Total Employment
0
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000
Direct Employment
Figure 8
➤ 11

➤
✈
✈
✈
✈
Berlin - it is estimated that the
development of the new
Berlin/Brandenburg International Airport
will generate 10 billion Euros per annum
in the operating phase by 2010.
This would contribute 2% value added
to the whole Berlin/Brandenburg regional
economy
Projected Employment
Many airports have projected their future
employment impact for the purpose of gaining
approval for capacity expansion or investment
projects. Even taking into account possible productivity
gains, the generation of new employment
is substantial. Often this employment is
created without any recourse to public subsidy.
Amsterdam - Employment is forecast to
grow by 38% (28,000 jobs) between 1997
and 2015 based on the implementation of
the development plan for the airport,
including passenger growth of 42%.
Cardiff - Development of the airport is
forecast to generate an increase in
passenger traffic of 192% between 1997
and 2010 with employment forecast to
grow by 146% - 6,100 jobs.
Düsseldorf - It is estimated that the
construction of a runway extension will
contribute to attracting an additional
720,000 long haul passengers to the
airport. These passengers will be high
value passengers who will generate
employment as follows:
• Direct on-site 1,000
• Indirect and induced 4,800
• Total 5,800
✈
Milan Malpensa - The case for the
development of the new airport was made
on the basis that:
• Milan is the third metropolitan
conglomerate area (after London and
Paris) with a population of more than
7.5 million people.
• Milan is the centre of the large northern
Italian market of over 24 million people.
• 33% of passengers at Milan Linate over
the last 5 years have come from Milan,
14% from the Province of Milan and
53% from the other regions of Northern
Italy.
• Northern Italy contributes 74% of Italy's
air transport turnover and 57% of tickets
sold.
• Milan itself generates 34% of Italy's air
transport turnover.
• Milan's catchment area produces
600,000 tonnes of freight.
• 70% of Italian imports and 72% of
exports arise in the regions
of Northern Italy.
• With relatively low on-site employment,
the regional employment multiplier from
the development of the Malpensa site is
higher than average.
The indirect and, hence, the induced economic
impact of an airport is more difficult to
quantify, requiring not only an understanding
of the airport's operation but its interaction
with the local, regional or national economy.
Nonetheless, the evidence from across 19
European airports is that the total of the
direct, indirect and induced employment is at
least double the more easily quantifiable onsite
employment. This further reinforces the
critical economic impact of an airport to the
region which it serves.
12

Airports as Strategic
Catalysts
The economic importance of airports stems
not only from the fact that they are major generators
of economic prosperity in their own
right, but also because they can act as magnets
for a wide range of other economic activities.
This wider economic role of airports is often
referred to as the catalytic or spin-off impact.
The presence of a major international airport:
➢ Can be an important or critical element
in the locational decisions of a range of
companies;
➢ Promotes the export success of companies
located in the area by the provision
of passenger and freight links to key
markets;
➢ Enhances the competitiveness of the
economy and the companies operating in
that economy, through the range and
efficiency of its passenger and freight
services;
➢ Attracts business and leisure visitors to
the area, thus generating income and
employment in the tourism industry.
Throughout Europe, many studies into the
economic impact of airports have identified
the broad catalytic impact rather than providing
specific evidence or examples. Indeed, the catalytic
effect of an airport impacts on the operation
of the whole economy and it is, therefore,
difficult to isolate what is attributable to the airport
and what is attributable to a wide range of
other factors.
Airports and Company Location
Decisions
When companies are assessing where to
locate their activities, there will be a complex raft
of needs and wants. The factors taken into
account are similar whether they are locallybased
companies or inward investors, considering
➤ 13

➤
✈
✈
a new investment or the expansion of an
existing facility. Companies will generally
identify a number of potential locations which
meet their criteria for factors such as the availability
or cost of labour with the required skills,
the availability and cost of sites/premises, communications
and transport, financial assistance
and quality of life indicators.
In these circumstances the presence of a
major international airport will add considerably
to a region's portfolio of assets, giving it a
competitive advantage over other regions
which may not have access to a similar-sized
airport. The accessibility provided by airports is
determined by the range and frequency of
scheduled services, particularly to international
destinations.
The importance of access to air services in
company location decisions will vary depending
on the type of company. A number of studies
have been carried out within Europe to establish
the importance of different location factors.
UK - A study in the area encompassing
London, Reading and Swindon concluded
that when all economic sectors were
considered, the most important factor was
access to the national road network,
followed by access to Heathrow airport.
However, for multi-national companies,
access to a major international airport was
the most important factor.
Amsterdam - Research undertaken in the
region around Schiphol Airport reported
72% of large international companies
citing their dependence on the presence
and development of the airport.
Increasingly economic development agencies
are focusing their attention on strategic businesses.
The key features of such organisations are
the mix of headquarters, research and development
and production functions. They tend to
have a high level of autonomy in decision-making
at the strategic (national and international)
level. They also operate to a much greater extent
on an international basis and, therefore, seek
high quality premises with easy access to airports.
These strategic businesses tend to stimulate
a “follow-my-leader" effect where competitor or
like-minded firms seek to be in the same place.
One of the key studies into the factors considered
by companies in determining their
location is the annual survey carried out by
Healey and Baker (European Cities Monitor:
Europe's Top Cities). This study identifies corporate
attitudes to Europe's business cities,
emphasising the importance of airports to
regional economies:
➢ 66% of companies state that easy access
to markets, customers and clients is
absolutely essential in location decisions;
➢ 56% state that transport links with other
cities and internationally are also absolutely
essential.
Given these responses it is, therefore, not
surprising that the rankings are dominated by
the cities with major international airports
(London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam) and
by other European cities with significant airports
providing direct links to European and
intercontinental destinations.
The Top 13 European cities for Key
Location Factors in 1997
City Airport Access to External
Passengers Markets Transport
(mppa) 1996
Links
1. London 88 1 1
2. Paris 59 2= 3
3. Frankfurt 39 2= 2
4. Brussels 14 4 5
5. Amsterdam 28 5 4
6. Madrid 22 10= 13
7. Barcelona 13 12 17
8. Zurich 16 15 6
9. Milan 16 6 10
10. Manchester 15 10= 7
11. Munich 16 7 8=
12. Düsseldorf 14 8 11
13. Berlin 11 9 14
Figure 9
Source: Healey & Baker - European Cities Monitor
14

✈
✈
✈
The increasing trend towards globalisation
will only serve to enhance further the importance
of airports and air links to industry.
Within the European Union, the Single Market
and the opportunities for cross-border ownership
will also have a positive impact. A major
international airport with frequent links to
European and intercontinental destinations will
be to the regions of Europe what canals and
railways were in earlier times: a vital piece of
modern infrastructure which contributes to the
prosperity of the whole region and beyond.
A number of airport economic impact
studies have identified specific examples of
inward investment decisions which have been
significantly influenced by the presence of a
major airport.
Barcelona - an American multinational
selected the Barcelona area as the location
for its training centre to serve Europe,
Africa and South East Asia. The company
was looking for a coastal location in Spain
or southern France and the airport was a
critical factor in its choice of Barcelona.
Munich - in April 1998, Siemens decided
to move its Siemens-Nixdorf operation
from a peripheral location in Paderborn,
between Düsseldorf and Hannover,
to be close to the international airport
in Munich. Other high-tech companies
have established operations close to the
airport - Compaq, Texas Instruments,
Apple, Alcatel, Intel, Microsoft, Baxter,
Amadeus and Hitachi.
Düsseldorf - the airport has played an
important role in attracting in a large
number of overseas companies to the area:
• Within a radius of 25km of the airport
500 Japanese firms are located, with a
turnover of between 40 and 60 million
Euros.
• 420 US firms are located within the
catchment area of Dusseldorf Airport,
generating 44,000 jobs.
✈
Manchester - There is evidence that a
number of overseas firms decided to invest
in the Manchester area based on the
excellent freight and passenger transport
service provided by Manchester Airport,
including the planned expansion with the
second runway:
• Omega Engineering, a US manufacturer
and distributor of instrumentation,
selected Manchester as the location for its
new European headquarters;
• TECO, a Taiwanese electronics company
chose the north west of England against
competition from other regions of the UK,
Holland and Germany;
• Kellogg's, a US-owned food manufacturer
has maintained its UK headquarters in
the Manchester area because the airport
provides it with fast, efficient links to the
rest of Europe.
It is difficult to quantify this catalytic
impact as the location of any industrial or service
activity will at best be only partially
related to the existence of a successful airport.
However, there can be no doubt that substantial
numbers of additional jobs in the vicinity
of airports - particularly those with welldeveloped
networks of international scheduled
services - will be dependent upon the existence
of the airport. Generally any estimates of this
impact will assume a proportion of such jobs as
being related to activity at an airport. Figure 10
illustrates these figures for a selection of airports,
showing that such catalytic - inward
investment - and tourism impacts can almost
double the quantified direct and indirect economic
impact of an airport.
Competitiveness and Export Promotion
Through the passenger and freight services
which they provide, airports are crucial to the
ability of local companies to compete successfully
in highly competitive world markets.
UK data shows that there is a relationship
between the pattern of business travel by UK
residents and the pattern of exports from the
UK. This has been demonstrated for 23 countries
in North and South America, Africa, the
Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent and the
Far East. Whilst this statistical relationship says
nothing regarding the direction of causality
involved, it does underline the importance of
airports and air travel in international trade.
➤ 15

➤
✈
Munich Airport - The inauguration of a
service by South African Airways enabled
leather upholstery for car manufacture to
be imported from South Africa.
✈
Düsseldorf Airport - The development
of scheduled rather than charter services
by LTU (the largest cargo carrier at
Düsseldorf Airport) has increased both
import and export traffic:-
• flowers and vegetables from the Far East
and the Caribbean;
• chemicals and industrial products to
South America
Inbound Tourism
Most airport economic impact studies
emphasise the role which airports play in the
stimulation of the tourism industry in their surrounding
areas. The air services supplied by
airports provide a fast way for business and
leisure visitors to travel to an area, thus supporting
employment in a wide range of facilities
including hotels, restaurants, shops, conference
and exhibition centres and visitor
attractions.
Segments of the tourism industry in which
airports and air travel are of particular significance
include:
➢ mass tourism;
➢ city and short breaks;
➢ international conventions, conferences
and exhibitions;
➢ long haul tourism.
✈
✈
✈
Expenditure by tourists can form a major
part of the economic impact attributable, at
least in part, to the existence of an airport.
Recent figures are given here for a selection
of airports:
Paris Airports - expenditure by visitors
totalled 4 billion Euros.
Nice Airport - 1.9 million tourists
arriving by air generated an income
of 950 million Euros.
Milan Airports - passengers arriving by
air generated 882 million Euros
expenditure.
✈
Vienna Airport -
• 5.5% of Austrian foreign trade is
exported by air
• 28% of foreign tourists visiting Vienna
arrive by air
16

It is more difficult to quantify the total catalytic
impact of an airport as the impact arises
from a number of local factors of which the airport
is only one, albeit an important one. In
particular, the treatment of jobs created by
tourism in terms of their attribution to the airport
can vary greatly. Figure 10 illustrates estimates
made in respect of a number of airports
in connection with the quantification of economic
impact given in full in Table 1.
✈
Düsseldorf Airport - 400,000 overseas
visitors per year using the airport attend
trade shows in Düsseldorf and Cologne, the
top two exhibition destinations in Germany
in terms of the number of both visitors and
exhibitors. Düsseldorf Airport is essential
to this success.
Estimates of Catalytic Employment at European Airports
Airport Inward Inbound Total Jobs per mppa
Investment Tourism
Catalytic Direct Total
and Indirect
Amsterdam 19,100 2,900 22,000 710 2,387 3,097
Barcelona 60,015 60,015 5,826 921 6,747
Birmingham 860 1,050 1,910 399 1,487 1,886
Brussels 7,694 1,150 8,844 882 2,991 3,873
Düsseldorf 34,944 34,944 2,269 1,740 4,009
Malaga 103,504 103,504 16,563 1,167 17,730
Manchester 20,000 5,400 25,400 1,979 2,343 4,322
Milan 15,436 15,436 1,185 2,687 3,872
Newcastle 11,250 1,060 12,310 4,924 1,112 6,036
Oslo 10,000 10,000 901 2,049 2,950
✈
Figure 10
Spain - Tourism is the major industry
and Spain relies on bringing in large
numbers of visitors by air from overseas,
particularly in the case of the Balearic and
Canary Islands. In 1997, the three airports
in the Balearic Islands (Palma de Mallorca,
Ibiza and Menorca) handled over
22 million passengers, around 90% of
whom were holiday visitors. Tourism
accounts for around 83% of the GDP
of the Spanish Islands.
Although the quantified impact across the
sample of airports varies widely, there can be
no doubt that airports play a significant role
in the attraction and retention of industrial
and service activity. Air service access is also
vitally important to the growing world
tourism industry. On the evidence detailed
above, the total employment impact of an airport
can almost triple the measured direct and
indirect impact. However, these figures are
distorted by high estimates of catalytic
tourism-related employment around
Barcelona and Malaga. Discounting these figures,
catalytic impact can increase the impact
of an airport 1.8 times.
➤ 17

➤
Airports as Vital
Social Links
The existence of an airport starts to change
the demographics of that region as the airport
grows. Not only does it attract new businesses
or new facilities for existing businesses, but it
has an obvious effect on the social situation in
the surrounding communities. Indeed, for this
reason, the EU's Trans-European Airport
Network saw the development of regional and
accessibility points as one of its priorities.
Accessing outlying Regions
Many isolated regions, such as the
Highlands and Islands of Scotland, are highly
dependent on air service connections. This can
also be seen clearly in the Nordic countries by
studying the communities surrounding the airports
of Stockholm and Oslo.
Air travel is important in the Nordic countries
as Sweden, Norway and Finland are large
and sparsely-populated countries relying on a
large domestic air transport system. Over the
last 50 years, these three countries, along with
Denmark, have built most of their wealth on
international trade as their respective domestic
markets are too small to sustain the size of the
industrial base. Travel has been a much-used
tool to create wealth through export-oriented
industries.
✈
Stockholm - the airport is located north of
the city. The southern municipalities of
Stockholm county are generally less affluent
than other areas situated closer to the airport.
Although there is no significant difference in
distribution of total employment between the
northern and southern parts, there are
differences in composition:
• the numbers of low-income earners are
higher in the south than in the north of
Stockholm
• the numbers of managers and academics are
higher in the north than in the south
The Nordic capital cities have comparatively
large airports compared to many larger cities
in central parts of Europe. Airports such as
Stockholm, Copenhagen and Oslo, are often the
single largest or second largest employment
concentration in their respective region. Thus,
they have a major influence on the social wellbeing
of the surrounding communities in these
cities.
18

✈
✈
There is also a notable difference in air
travel between the two regions. This might be
explained, in part, by the difference in wealth.
It is however more likely that people who fly
regularly have consciously chosen to live
closer to the airport.
Airports influence Residential Location
This is confirmed when analysing where
airline frequent flyers live. Data provided by
SAS shows that the northern parts of the
Stockholm area have a much higher concentration
of air travellers than the south. Regular air
travellers are also, according to many international
surveys, often high-income earners.
Stockholm -
• 63% of frequent flyers live to the north
of the city in close proximity to the
airport
• 37% live to the south of the city
Local surveys in Stockholm county confirm
this pattern of differences with personal income
north of the city higher than in the south. This
has wider implications as personal income can
be directly correlated to the community's tax
base. This is also reflected in the unemployment
rate in different parts of the region with
the northern and western parts of Stockholm
county having a substantially lower unemployment
rate than the southern part. This halo
effect of low unemployment around a major
airport is a common phenomenon, for example
around Gatwick, south of London. Similarly,
the area adjacent to Düsseldorf Airport attracts
high income residents.
Oslo Airport - The current international
airport of Fornebu is located along a very
affluent stretch of coastline between the
city centre and the southern city of
Drammen 40 km away. The area is also the
home of many large companies in Norway.
When the airport moves to the north of the
city at the end of 1998, a new situation
will arise. It is expected that the move will
create a larger concentration of companies
choosing to settle in the central parts of
the Oslo region, away from the south.
The core of a successful community is its
ability to provide employment. In the long term
a healthy local economy in a community or
region is totally dependent on the availability
of real jobs, creating a sustainable employment
base. This helps governments to limit their
social welfare spending, freeing up funds for
other community improvements. Airports like
Stockholm Arlanda or Oslo Fornebu often provide
more than half the jobs in their host community.
Impact on rural communities
Regional airports play an essential role for
many rural communities in Europe. One of the
negative effects of the industrial economy is
that it has led to a high concentration of economic
activity in limited parts of a country, due
to the effects of economies of scale. Large cities
have grown significantly in the last 40-50
years, mostly at the expense of small rural
communities. A significant competitive advantage
of the large city concentrations, which has
also increased over the years, has been the
extensive transport networks which allow citizens
to travel freely to all parts of the world.
✈
✈
Stockholm Airport - Like many other
major European airports, Stockholm
Arlanda needs to expand its runway
system and a government study is now
under way to examine the need for new
runway capacity. Because of the substantial
beneficial impact of the airport, some are
now arguing for any new runway capacity
to be located in the southern part of the
region, to facilitate and equalise growth in
the greater Stockholm area. However,
this will need to be balanced against
the benefits of concentration at
the existing site.
Manchester Airport - When approval
was sought for a second runway,
three-quarters of the representations
to the public inquiry were in favour
of the development because of the
economic benefits it would bring.
➤ 19

➤
✈
Rural communities are now fighting back
successfully, as access to an airport can, to an
extent, offset their geographical disadvantage.
The successful hub and spoke systems operated
by the major carriers in Europe allow travellers
to reach even the most distant points in Europe
with a travel time difference to the capital city
hub of no more than a couple of hours and with
a number of travel alternatives. It is therefore
now no more complicated to reach a company in
Tromsö, 500 km north of the Arctic Circle, than
a similar company 150 km outside any capital
city in Europe. Taking care of customers in central
Europe is no longer a problem for companies
in outlying communities with regional airports
providing scheduled air services.
The increased accessibility to nearly all
parts of Europe has brought vital improvements
to the lives of nearly all Europeans, especially
those living in remote areas.
Air services to regional airports have
contributed to the development of much of
the tourism industry now concentrated in
remote areas unheard of 50 years ago. The
development of parts of Greece, Spain,
Sweden, Norway and Finland would never
have been possible without regional
airports. This has created job opportunities
and wealth in areas that would never have
been competitive as industrial locations.
The new lease of life given to rural communities
due to the accessibility of air transport is
a vital competitive tool for the future, particularly
as many states are in transition to a postindustrialised
phase. Many scientists are suggesting
that the new information age or knowledge-based
economy, organised around
networked organisations, will fundamentally
change our living and working habits.
Knowledge-based companies will most likely
try to locate their offices based on:-
➢ local availability of highly educated
people;
➢ global availability of communication
services;
➢ local availability of globally connected
transport networks;
➢ access to major markets.
Communities in rural areas of many countries
offer a very high quality of life. In countries
like Sweden and Norway, there is a trend
for many IT companies to move to rural areas to
find the skilled workers that they are looking
for. As the networked economy does not require
companies to have large offices for intercompany
communications, some companies will
choose to set up affiliated offices based around
key employees. Many of these offices will be
based in small cities with good air transport
services to the major economic centres.
✈
Regional air services allow rural
communities to offer the same type of
skilled health services as large cities as air
transport can be used to offset distances
to large hospitals for specialised medical
treatment.
✈
Good regional air services in Europe also
make it possible, as in the US, to locate
universities in smaller towns and make
it possible for them to retain a good
academic base. Communications are no
longer a problem as it is easy to reach
the world through regional air service
connections to a major hub.
✈
Rural communities can become integrated
into a nation's sports and cultural life as
well as its education system by the use of
air transport.
20

✈
Greece - Tourism is the main industry in
Greece, much of it based on the islands.
Although sea ferries remain an important
transport mode, mass tourism from the rest
of Europe would not be feasible without
the regional airports now successfully
operating on many of the Greek islands.
✈
Finland – Countless numbers travel
to the Finnish town of Rovaniemi to
meet Santa Claus.
✈
Norway and Sweden - More than
10,000 people from all over the world visit
the remote areas of Norway and Sweden,
seeking a glimpse of one of the last
wildernesses in Europe.
Creating Opportunities for Tourism
The continued growth of the leisure industry
will most likely also be based on the new
trends in the tourism industry aimed at satisfying
needs for individually packaged tours. This
will spread and increase the scope for both the
industry and for many rural communities in
Europe. Air transport will play a vital role in
making this possible through both charter
flights and scheduled regional air services to
these areas.
➤ 21

➤
Airports Contributors
to Sustainable
Economic
Development
Aviation will play a very significant role in
the global economy of the 21st Century.
Regions which are linked to the rest of the
world by major international airports feeding a
global air transport network are more likely to
undergo sustained and successful economic
development and regeneration.
The social and economic benefits which
arise from the aviation industry are measured
in terms of:-
➢ direct and indirect employment;
➢ global trade;
➢ inward investment;
➢ travel for leisure and education;
➢ cultural diversity.
Many airports have been shown to be one
of, if not the, most important generators of
economic activity in the regions they serve.
Further, the benefits which accrue from the sustained
growth and development of airports are
felt across entire regions, or even nations.
However, there are also costs (social and
environmental) associated with the operation of
airports. These include the impact of the aviation
industry on the local noise climate, the
implications of air travel for air quality locally
and at high altitude and pollution and congestion
associated with road access traffic.
Economic development, which leads to an
increasing affluence, simultaneously generates
increased demand for air travel and an increasing
expectation of quality of life. In turn, this
22

leads to less tolerance of pollution. The airports
which are the most attractive to airlines also
tend to be those which are closest to major centres
of population - the same airports which are
among the more environmentally sensitive.
The environmental implications of airport
operations have, therefore, the potential to
increase pressures to restrict air traffic growth.
However, the implications of this would be to
restrict the social and economic benefits which
accrue from the industry. As a result, across
Europe, airports and airlines have invested very
significant resources into identifying and then
reducing the environmental impact of their
industry.
The major environmental issue associated
with airport operations is the disturbance
caused to local residents by aircraft noise. Such
is the importance of this issue that some airports
have noise capacity limits (effectively
restrictions on aircraft movements) which are
less than the infrastructure capacity limits for
the airport. Other airports are failing to gain
planning approval for new developments due
to the environmental implications of the development
itself or the growth in traffic which
would arise from it.
As a consequence, airports across Europe
have recognised that effective environmental
management, which reduces the impact of their
operation can significantly increase the environmental
capacity of the site. Such initiatives
could realise the potential of the social and
economic benefits which accrue from that airport’s
continued operation.
Airports, working with their industry partners,
have invested very significant resources
indeed to reduce the impact of aviation. A recent
survey by ACI EUROPE revealed that:
➢ Airport companies have developed very
sophisticated environmental management
systems;
➤ 23

➤
➢ Individual airports have invested in some
cases tens of millions of Euros per year in
developing their environmental control and
mitigation programmes;
➢ Aircraft noise is the single most important
cause of disturbance caused by aviation.
Some airports invest millions of Euros annually
to provide sound insulation in local communities;
➢ Many airports have spent substantial
sums of money to modify aircraft arrival and
departure routes to avoid overflying neighbouring
communities;
➢ Aircraft less than 25 years old, yet perfectly
airworthy, have been grounded across
Europe and are being scrapped simply due to
the noise they make. This is costing European
airlines hundreds of millions of Euros annually;
➢ Many international airports either close
at night or have introduced severe operational
restrictions upon aircraft, designed to reduce
noise disturbance.
➢ Airports have invested millions to develop
public transport links and to introduce
ground transport competition with aviation so
as to reduce environment impact.
In the longer term, the attainment of sustainable
mobility within Europe requires the
development of a trans-European public transport
network in which airports emerge as intermodal
transport hubs and in which the most
environmentally appropriate mode of transport
is used for the purpose in hand. European aviation
is, therefore, encouraging intermodality
in the knowledge that, in the longer term, some
short distance journeys are likely to move from
air to their natural competitors - rail.
At a local level, the principles of sustainable
development require the achievement of the
best balance between the social and economic
benefits of providing a particular service or
commodity and the social and environmental
costs which arise as a result.
The European aviation industry, by investing
significant resources in developing some of the
most advanced environmental management
measures found in any industry and by reducing
the environmental impact of aviation, is
increasing the environmental capacity of the
industry and hence the potential for social and
economic benefits.
Continuous improvement in environmental
management is enabling European airports to
contribute to the sustainable economic development
of their regions and countries.
✈
Düsseldorf - 80% of the citizens
of the city of Ratingen, 5km from
the airport, are supportive of airport
development because of the benefits to
the local economy :
• 50% of firms support an increase in
runway capacity;
• Local hotels are dependent on
airport-related trade;
• Preferential housing attracts
high-income residents.
This has not prevented the City of Ratingen
from opposing airport development yet
using the proximity of the airport for
industrial promotion purposes.
24

Conclusion
This study has examined the latest evidence
on the economic impact of Europe's airports.
This impact is more often quantified by way of
employment impact. Airports also generate
substantial injections of income into the local,
regional or national economy and many airports
make a substantial tax contribution.
Generally, however, the quantification of this
impact is less frequently reported.
It is clear that airports, unlike in many other
transport modes, make a sizeable direct economic
contribution both in terms of jobs created
and income generated. These jobs are many
and varied in their nature. Whilst there are
variations in the direct job creation impact of
each airport, dependent upon the characteristics
of its traffic and the role of the airport, this
study confirms the frequently-quoted ratio of
employment growing by at least 1,000 jobs on
site per million passengers a year.
Often the estimates of indirect and induced
impact are generated from this quantification
of direct impact by way of multipliers or inputoutput
analysis. The indirect and, thus, the
induced economic impact of an airport is more
difficult to quantify, requiring not only an
understanding of the airport's operation but its
interaction with the local, regional or national
economy. These estimates can vary quite widely
because of the different methodologies adopted
or the size of the study area chosen.
Nonetheless, the evidence here is that the
indirect impact of an airport's operation is substantial.
This study shows that the total direct,
indirect and induced employment impact of an
airport can be on average 2,200 jobs per million
passengers - more than double that of the
direct/on-site employment alone.
Airports play a fundamental role in attracting
and retaining industry in the surrounding
areas - typically 1-2 hours by road. Although
the quantified impact across the sample of
airports varies widely it is clear that the
employment and wider economic impacts are
substantial.
➤ 25

➤
In general, the catalytic impact can increase
the impact of an airport 1.8 times to the order
of 4,000 jobs per million passengers taking all
factors into account. Clearly, the catalytic
impact will be of a larger order where airports
have highly developed networks of international
scheduled services.
In a modern society, direct access to transport
networks is expected by every citizen,
requiring this accessibility to be sustained for
the outlying regions as well as for the
industrial conurbations of the centre. Only air
service links can sustain the rapid accessibility
demanded by consumers in the next millenium.
Many outlying communities would wither and
die without the opportunities for economic
participation afforded by airports and air
service access.
Air service access is also vitally important
to the growing world tourism industry, particularly
in countries such as Greece and Spain.
On the evidence assembled in this study, the
total employment impact of an airport can
almost triple the measured direct and indirect
impact in areas with high dependency on
tourism.
The very fact that airports are substantial
generators of employment opportunities contributes
significantly to the social welfare of
those living nearby. High levels of unemployment
can be one of the largest contributory
causes to ill health and social distress. The
beneficial social impact of airport-related
employment opportunities should not be
underestimated.
There can be no doubt about the economic
benefits each airport brings to its local community.
Evidence contained in this new study
reinforces the information published by ACI
EUROPE in 1992. The increasing number of airports
which have undertaken studies of their
economic impact has enabled this study to
draw greater distinctions about the ways in
which airports create beneficial economic and
social impacts. The impact of each individual
airport must be judged against the factors and
criteria outlined in this report.
The principle of sustainable development
requires that the benefits of any development
be carefully weighed against the resources to
be consumed. This study shows that the benefits
of airport operation and development are of
a scale such that, when coupled with the sound
principles of environmental management
already exhibited by airports and airlines, they
must lead national and local governments to
support their airports in guaranteeing these
benefits to all the regions of the greater Europe.
26

Table 1
Total Employment Impact
Airport Year Total Freight Employment
Passengers (tonnes)
(’000,000)
Direct Indirect Induced Total Total Total Direct
Direct /Indirect/
Jobs per Induced
mppa Jobs per
mppa
Amsterdam 1997 31 1,200,000 49,000 25,000 74,000 1,581 2,387
Barcelona 1994 10.7 58,883 4,903 4,951 9,854 458 921
Birmingham 1994 4.9 18,767 4,938 640 1,710 7,288 1,008 1,487
Brussels 1993 10 306,463 19,800 10,109 29,909 1,980 2,991
Cardiff 1997 1.2 741 1,884 140 140 2,464 1,570 2,053
Düsseldorf 1997 15.5 70,866 12,000 5,760 9,216 26,976 774 1,740
Exeter 1994 0.2 563 205 205 973 2,815 4,865
Gatwick 1996 24.3 267,320 24,000 8,800 8,150 40,950 988 1,685
Glasgow 1995 5.5 13,059 5,244 7,285 12,529 953 2,278
Gran Canaria 1994 7.6 35,000 2,807 369
Hamburg 1994 7.5 85,000 12,530 1,671
Heathrow 1991 40.5 654,625 58,742 44,100 88,730 191,572 1,450 4,730
Malaga 1995 6.3 7,138 2,488 4,863 7,351 395 1,167
Manchester 1993 13.1 86,006 19,093 4,400 7,200 30,693 1,457 2,343
Milan 1994 13 160,284 8,436 25,798 34,234 649 2,633
Munich 1996 15.7 76,000 16,883 22,025 11,424 50,332 1,075 3,206
Newcastle 1994 2.5 997 2,167 613 2,780 867 1,112
Nice 1994 5.9 22,291 4,496 745
Oslo 1996 11.1 53,237 9,480 13,000 22,480 854 2,049
Paris CDG 1996 31.7 866,112 49,463 60,537 110,000 1,560 3,470
Paris Orly 1996 27.4 246,369 29,262 22,695 51,957 1,068 1,896
Valencia 1994 1.8 9,000 940 410 6,599 7,949 522 5,128
Zurich 1997 18.3 472,273 17,914 27,512 979
Source: York Consulting:
The Economic Impact of Airports (May 1998)
➤ 27

➤
Table 2
Total Income Impact
Airport Year Total Freight Income (million Euros) Indirect/ Study
Passengers (tonnes) Induced Area
(’000,000) Income
Multiplier
Direct Indirect Induced Total
Amsterdam 1997 31 1,200,000
Barcelona 1994 10.7 58,883 178 84 262 0.47 R
Birmingham 1994 4.9 18,767 132 13 35 180 0.36 R
Brussels 1993 10 306,463 1,079 410 92 1,581 0.47 N
Cardiff 1997 1.2 741 35 3 11 49 0.4 L
Düsseldorf 1997 15.5 70,866 383 204 326 913 1.38 L
Exeter 1994 0.2 16 3 3 22 0.38 L
Gatwick 1996 24.3 267,320 357 131 121 609 0.71 R
Glasgow 1995 5.5 13,059 165 311 476 1.88 R
Gran Canaria 1994 7.6 30,000 83 7 90 0.08 R
Hamburg 1994 7.5 85,000
Heathrow 1991 40.5 654,625
Malaga 1995 6.3 7,138 64 52 116 0.81 R
Manchester 1993 13.1 86,006 394 71 115 580 0.47 R
Milan 1994 13 160,284 494 331 703 1,528 2.09 R
Munich 1996 15.7 76,000
Newcastle 1994 2.5 997
Nice 1994 5.9 22,291 99 156 255 555 0.85 R
Oslo 1996 11.1 53,237 267
Paris CDG 1996 31.7 866,112 1,367 2,734 4,101 2 R
Paris Orly 1996 27.4 246,369 1,247 2,494 3,741 2 R
Valencia 1994 1.8 9,000 18 20 38 1.11 L
Zurich* 1997 18.3 472,273 1,181 1,015
Study Area Definition:
N National
R Regional
L Local
*The income figures for Zurich relate to 1989.
Source: York Consulting:
The Economic Impact of Airports (May 1998)
28

ACI EUROPE would like
to thank the Editorial
Committee, composed
of several members of
the ACI EUROPE
Economic Impact Task
Force, for their
invaluable contribution
to the preparation
of this study:
Louise Congdon, Rapporteur of the Economic Impact Task Force
and principal editor, Manchester Airport plc
Pier Gaetano Bellan/Luca Silari, SEA Milano
Pascal Erni, Flughafen Zurich
Rolf Ewald, Flughafen Düsseldorf
Tim Hawkins, BAA plc, London
Luis Hernández, Aena, Spain
Richard Holt, Birmingham Airport
Manfred Kuhne, ADV, Germany
Dan Lundvall, CAA Sweden
Jacques Sabourin, UCCEGA, France
Kai J. Sollid, CAA Norway
Günter Wagner, Flughafen München GmbH
AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL - EUROPEAN REGION
6 Square de Meeûs - B-1000 Brussels - Belgium
Tel. +32 (0)2 552.09.72 - Fax. +32 (0)2 513.27.68
e-mail: sg@aci-europe.org - Internet: http://www.aci-europe.org