ABSTRACT
The commercialisation and privatisation of airports in combination with the deregulation of many aviation markets has introduced new possibilities for competition amongst airports. This in turn has meant that potentially there may be increased opportunities for airports to develop new strategies to gain competitive advantage. It is thus the aim here to investigate the strategies which airports have actually developed. Firstly, this is done by undertaking a competitive analysis of the industry and assessing the extent of influence that an airport operator has over the factors which affect its competitiveness. The relevance of these factors is then examined within the context of the different strategies that airports have seleted to adopt, and the directions and methods that the airports have chosen to pursue these. Finally the case of low-cost carriers (LCCs), and the choices of strategic direction which are available to address the needs of these types of airlines, are considered.
