ABSTRACT
In Chapter 4, the problem of allocating the capacity of an airport is considered. There are several ways in which capacity is allocated, though the main forms of allocation at airports are pricing and airport slots. The chapter begins with a brief review of actual airport charging systems. Then, the pricing of airports with ample capacity is discussed—for these airports, the problem is one of covering costs with least reduction in the output. Weight-based or passenger-based charging is a practical way of doing so. When demand for capacity at the airport exceeds capacity, the problem becomes more complex. Queuing, as practised often in the US, can give rise to long and costly delays. In most other countries, the problem is solved by requiring each flight to have a slot to use the runway. This makes it feasible to ration the available capacity with relatively little delay, but then there is the issue of how to allocate the slots—by auctions, secondary trading or administrative means? Most of this chapter is devoted to aeronautical services, but the pricing of the wide variety of non-aeronautical services (such as retail, car parking and offices) is also discussed.
