3. Results (2)

!

4. Conclusions 1.The strong hub competition in Europe and the lack of new route developments may damage Heathrow’s position as a world-class connecting gateway in the coming years. a)In absolute terms, more connecting UK passengers travel through Amsterdam or Dubai than via Heathrow. b)Heathrow benefits from its massive traffic generation to remain the most central gateway for the overall UK air transport market. 2.UK regional airports have significant dependence on foreign hubs in many destinations. a)Three quarters of the connecting traffic from UK regions to Asia-Pacific and the BRIC countries depends on non-UK hubs. b)Heathrow only remains as the main gateway to North America and the Middle East. 3.A few policy considerations. a)Network coverage and pricing strategies seem to play an important role in capturing market share. b)Fifth-Freedom does not offer a total solution, but some mid-tier European airports have been successful in boosting their connectivity to particular intercontinental destinations. c)Regions can turn threads into opportunities: The role of foreign airlines in secondary airports.

Thank you very much for

Back-up slides

The airport as a location factor for firms Knowledge concentration and diffusion The value chain and transport costs General attractiveness of the region 1. Airports as engines of economic development

Air transport is essential for the diffusion and concentration of knowledge 1. Air transport is the only transport mode that allows the efficient exchange of tacit knowledge at the global scale (Shin and Timberlake, 2000). Learning-by-interacting Face-to-face, trust,… 2. There is a correlation between the supply of air services and the existence of added value activities in a region. (Button et al., 1999; Breuckner, 2003; Greene, 2006; Alkaabi and Debbage, 2007; Bel and Fageda, 2008) A 10% increase in the number of non-stop intercontinental flights is translated into a 4% increase in the location of headquarters. Technological sectors: Pharmaceutical firms, microelectronics, aeronautics, optics and precision instruments, etc. Knowledge intensive sectors: Financial firms, R&D firms, design firms, advance medical centres, educational institutions, etc. 1. Airports as engines of economic development

Methodology (II) Fifth-freedom traffic Search for relatively rare “beyond” sectors (OAG) Only non-EEA airlines Cross-reference it with our MIDT dataset Passengers in all markets using “beyond” sectors are included. Indirect (od) connectivity: importance for local passengers Overall results are disaggregated by geographical markets. DXBLHR (Qantas) SYD

ITINERARIES OF UK REGIONAL PASSENGERS TO/FROM WORLDWIDE REGIONS (MAY 2013) European Economic Area (plus Switzerland) WORLD Rest of Europe (non-EEA) North America BRIC Asia-Pacific Africa Middle East Latin America and Caribbean LEGEND Direct flight Transfer via South East England hubs Transfer via alternative EEA hubs Transfer via rest of world hubs Note: The size of the pie charts is proportional to the market size. 3. Results (2) UK Regional access to international markets

Limited contribution, both in absolute and relative terms Few examples of substantial local benefits Secondary airports and hub bypassing 3. Results (3) Impact of 5 th -freedom traffic on international traffic