THE AIRPORT INDUSTRY IN A COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT: A UNITED KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE

摘要

On the basis of the foregoing evidence, the author would argue that a competitive framework is an achievable objective for a national airports policy. It is by no means evident that the industry is inherently a natural monopoly industry and thus requires regulation of prices or financial returns. On the contrary, the UK illustrates the ability of an airports industry to evolve a competitive structure whereby competition is an effective regulator of what the airport can charge the airline. Where there have been problems it is because of the failure to break up the state enterprise, the British Airports Authority, when it was privatised in the mid-1980s, so that proximate airports in two UK regions, London and Scotland, continue in common ownership. The lesson to be drawn is clearly apparent.