The Airport Industry in a Competitive Environment: A United Kingdom Perspective

The paper provides an overview of UK airports from the perspective of a business enterprise. Its object is to show, through the medium of the UK industry, that effective competition between airports is possible and that a competitive industry can be financially viable. In the UK case viability is achieved at all levels of output, thus refuting the suggestion that high fixed costs are a significant barrier to positive returns, particularly for airports of limited output. This viable industry operates for the most part in the private sector of the economy and it has evolved without the imposition of a strategic plan. It is competition that has driven the dynamics of the industry, an industry that in its symbiotic relationship with the airline industry has been an economic success story helping to produce strong economic growth in the service sector of the UK economy.