ABSTRACT
But there is some justification to the claim that airports are different and it was these inherent differences that led to Michael Beesley, in last year’s series, suggesting a very different approach to regulating airports. This evening I want to continue with this theme. I, too, want to point to some important differences that set airports aside from the other utilities and I will argue that, to a degree, this reflects some curious or less common economic characteristics of airports. This will lead me to propose significant changes to the present regulatory regime and, perhaps, in extremis, to proposals not too different from those put forward by Michael Beesley. But, before doing so, let me sketch out the regulatory approach to airports. This too is different from the approach adopted for the other utilities and associated with it are a number of issues which I will outline.
