New Frontiers of the European Airport Mangement Performances, Risks, and Trends of Development

The chapter aims at investigating the interaction airline-airport in the European competitive scenario with a special focus on the relationship between low-cost carriers and secondary airports. To address this aim, the analysis stems from the recognition of main steps in the European liberalization process of the aviation industry. This allows to grasp the challenges occurred in the air transportation market on the supply and demand side. Since new competitors entered the market, carriers and airports have changed their market strategies and have progressively focused on the exploitation of potential demand. A survey of the literature is proposed as well new possible development trends of the cited airline-airport are discussed. The chapter provides examples from the European and the Italian market. A case study on the Rome airports helps identifying main competitive issues.