Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Publication
    A review of Irish airports policy
    (Irish Bankers' Federation, Dublin, 2003)
    This article looks at recent trends in Irish air transport and in particular the role and experiences of airports. It is argued that Irish airports other than Dublin operate in very competitive circumstances because of their relative proximity to each other. Dublin Airport is a natural spatial monopoly. Issues relating to the Public Service Obligation routes at the regional airports, airport charges regulations in Ireland and in the EU and the issue of ownership and private sector involvement in terminal service provision are examined. The article suggests that maximisation of accessibility to and from Ireland must be the metre against which public policy decisions are evaluated; particularly as EU transport policy over the next 10 years will seek to increase the role of rail at the expense of air transport.
      335
  • Publication
    US feeder airlines: Industry structure, networks and performance
    (Elsevier, 2018-11)
    This paper examines the US airline industry in terms of the relationships between the three largest full service carriers, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines, and the set of regional carriers that are contracted to provide feeder services to them. The evolution of the regional carriers and the full service carriers are compared and recorded and the current industry structure and size is described. The paper uses the full set of Official Airline Guide (OAG) schedules for 2017 to analyse the industry structure and scale, overlap and seasonality in service provision among the groups of carriers and to understand the network organisation and capacity deployment strategy of the largest network carriers in the US market. The analysis provides evidence to explain how the large airlines are improving their cost and financial performance as well as significantly improving their operational efficiency through the achievement of high overall load factors. The sophistication in each airline’s schedule design and service delivery is highlighted.
    Scopus© Citations 14  933
  • Publication
    The role and provision of social air services in deregulated air transportation markets
    (Alexandrine Press, 1996)
    Social air services continue to be provided by governments in liberalized air transport markets for reasons of regional economic development and social or political integration. Here the service policies for the US, EU and EFTA countries, Australia and Canada are examined and it is argued that policies should rely on market forces in order to obtain social, economic and political goals most economically
      160
  • Publication
    The impact of the great recession on Irish air travel: An intermodal accessibility analysis
    This paper quantifies the changes in accessibility at small area scale arising from the combined effects of dramatic air traffic declines and a greatly expanded motorway network in Ireland during the period of the great recession. The subsequent policy decisions by government are assessed in light of the intermodal accessibility changes identified. The Irish Government engaged in an extensive motorway construction programme throughout the 2000s, greatly increasing the overall length of the inter-urban motorway network. The essential air transport services programme put in place in the 1990s to guarantee a minimum level of air access to disadvantaged regions was significantly reduced at the end of the 2008-2011 period, with only two of the six regional airports continuing to have any form of subsidised public service obligation for the period 2011-2014. In this study, small area datasets are used to measure the net impact of these changes on air transport accessibility in Ireland and the potential spatial inequalities that arise as a result of these changes. An inter-modal accessibility approach is used where the physical characteristics of the road transport network to airports and the network structure characteristics of the air transport system are taken into account to evaluate the levels of air transport accessibility at the small-area district level. Results from the analysis show that the improved surface access to the larger Irish airports (Dublin and Belfast) has enhanced the range of European and global locations directly accessible by air for many communities in Ireland. The net effect of these changes has been to concentrate air traffic at the largest Irish airports.
      550Scopus© Citations 8
  • Publication
    Airline seasonality: an explorative analysis of major low-cost carriers in Europe and the United States
    We develop two air traffic seasonality indices to complement the traditional Gini index. These measurements are adopted to assess the variability of air traffic over time and across the route network of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in Europe and the United States and to estimate the impact of seasonality on fleet utilization. Using panel data for nine LCCs in Europe and the United States from 2004 to 2017, we find that higher seasonality results in lower fleet utilization after controlling for stage length, network size, aircraft size, and fleet standardization. Moreover, we find that seasonality is negatively associated with spatial and climate zone diversification of airline route networks. These results suggest that airlines may be able to reduce seasonal traffic variability through diversifying their networks geographically and consequently mitigating the negative fleet utilization impact.
      5
  • Publication
    Seasonality in European and North American Air Transport Markets: Network Structures and Implications for Airline Performance and Recovery
    (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022-07-01) ; ;
    This industry note focuses on the seasonal variability in air traffic services and highlights the differences between air service capacity provision in Europe and North America. We explore the manifestations and measurement of seasonality, looking at the trends across airport communities and among airlines in the two continental regions. The relationship between airline network structure and seasonality is also explored in the study. We argue that there are a complex set of drivers of the observed differences in air traffic seasonality and set out a research agenda for further investigation.
      24
  • Publication
    The Evolution of Airline Partnerships in the U.S. Domestic Market
    (Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, DePaul University, 2018-11-05)
    This paper describes the evolution of the four largest airlines in the U.S. domestic market and focuses on the relationships between the mainline airlines and sets of regional airlines that provide feeder services through contract arrangements. The paper traces the series of mergers occurring over the last 20 years that have resulted in the current industry structures and organization and shows the dominance of the top four carriers directly as well as through their relationships with the main regional airlines. The current structure reflects the impact of different types of contractual arrangements and agreements that have shaped relationships between large numbers of airlines in the domestic U.S. market since deregulation in 1978. The paper sets out the rationale for entering into these agreements, the nature of the relationships and the stages of development of current carrier arrangements. A number of public policy issues are highlighted.
      438
  • Publication
    Characterisation of airline networks : a North American and European Comparison
    (Elsevier, 2010-05)
    This paper contrasts the North American and European air transport markets using the extensive Official Airline Guide Databases. The pattern of network development in the two continental regions is examined using data for 1996–2008. The top ten carriers in both regions are analysed closely in terms of network structures and the basic geographical characteristics of these networks are highlighted. In addition, different measures of air transport activity such as seating capacity, and number of movements and of routes are compared. Visualisations of carrier networks are used to highlight the different network strategies operated by low cost and full service carriers. European carrier networks display many significant differences to North American carrier networks. European carriers generally organise their networks around one or two key nodes within the member state in which they are registered and generally do not operate interactive, continental-wide, multiple hub-and-spoke networks as do North American carriers. European and North American low-cost carriers operate much more interconnected networks than full services carriers. Southwest Airlines stands out as operating a particularly highly interconnected network.
    Scopus© Citations 30  862
  • Publication
    Private apartments in Dublin
    (Geographical Society of Ireland, 1986)
      349