ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 provides an overall introduction to the book. It gives an outline of the subsequent chapters, starting, in Part 1, with the issues of airport location and forecasting, then moving on to the analysis of costs, and finally the allocation of available capacity at airports and how this can be done using pricing and quantitative devices, such as slots. Part 2 turns to ownership and investment, starting with how ownership has changed under privatisation, and then the issue of investment in airports. Part 2 also considers a central theme of the book—regulation and competition at airports. Is competition strong enough, or might there be a case for regulation? The ways in which competition can be assessed, the different types of regulation, and the practicalities of regulation are all discussed. The performance of airports, especially in terms of their cost efficiency and quality, is analysed next. In Part 3, there is consideration of the environmental costs of airports, such as their noise and climate effects, and the economic impacts of airports are reviewed. Finally, there is a short examination of the impact of COVID-19 on airports.
