Competitive Interaction between Airports, Airlines and High-Speed Rail

How should airports be regulated to contain market power? This round table proceedings first examines whether they need to be regulated at all. It concludes that because regulation is inevitably imperfect and costly, policy makers should establish conditions for competition to emerge between airports in preference to comprehensive regulation, whenever possible.

The proceedings identifies the economic conditions under which high-speed rail can provide a competitive substitute for aviation, revealing the limited relevance of rail to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from this part of the transport market.



Economic regulation is sometimes necessary, such as when airports are heavily congested. The proceedings determines which approaches are likely to work best and also assesses strategies for managing greenhouse gas emissions. It finds that although including aviation in an open emission trading scheme could help mitigate emissions efficiently across the economy, it should not be expected to produce major cuts in CO2-emissions in aviation itself.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY OF DISCUSSIONS
Impacts of Airports on Airline Competition: Focus on Airport Performance and Airport-Airline Vertical Relations, by Tae H. OUM (Canada) and Xiaowen FU (Hong Kong)
1. Introduction
2. Airport Revenue Structure, Regulation and Pricing
3. Airport’s Market Power
4. Airport Dominance and Airline Hub Premium, and Implications for Airline-Airport Co-operation
5. Airport-Airline Vertical Relationship
6. Summary and Conclusion
The Airport Industry in a Competitive Environment: A United Kingdom Perspective, by David STARKIE (United Kingdom)
1. Introduction
2. Size and Diversity
3. Ownership and Capital Markets
4. Competition for Contracts
5. Competitive Hinterlands
6. Financial Performance
7. Conclusions
The Impact of Climate Change Policy on Competition in the Air Transport Industry, by Peter FORSYTH (Australia)
1. Introduction
2. Climate Change Mitigation Policies and Aviation: An Outline
3. Emissions Reduction Options
4. Climate Change Policies and Their Impacts
5. Impacts of Policies on Airline Competition, Fares and Profits
6. Impacts of Free Permits on Competition, Fares and Profits
7. Competition and International Markets
8. Conclusions
The Role of Accessibility in Passengers’ Choice of Airports, by Marco KOWENHOVEN (The Netherlands)
1. Introduction
2. Definitions of Accessibility
3. Access Mode Choice
4. Airport C hoice
5. Case Study: The Effects of the Introduction of New Rail Modes
6. Case Study: Ticket Tax in The Netherlands.
7. Conclusions
The Economic Effects of High-Speed Rail Investment, by Ginés DE RUS (Spain)
1. Introduction
2. The Costs and Benefits of a New HSR Line
3. The Economic Evaluation of HSR Investment
4. Intermodal E ffects
5. Pricing
6. Conclusions
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS