ABSTRACT
Deregulation of air transport markets has made the airport business much more competitive. Airlines in Europe, for example, are much freer to operate out of any airport they choose without being constrained by bilateral restrictions. They are thus much more susceptible to aggressive marketing by airports. New types of airlines, for example, low-cost carriers such as easyJet and Ryanair, have emerged, which certain airports may wish to attract through a range of marketing techniques. The increase in demand for air transport due to deregulation and other more general factors, such as economic growth, has meant that there have been enhanced opportunities for more airports to share in this expansion of the market. This has provided airports with greater incentive to develop innovative and aggressive market strategies so that they can reap some of the benefits from this growth. Moreover, a number of airports are close to capacity and unable to offer attractive slots for new services. This means that there may be attractive prospects for other airports to promote themselves as alternative uncongested airports.
