Airport Strategies to Gain Competitive Advantage. Available at: http:// www.garsonline.de/Downloads/Slots%20Competition%20Benchmarking/04119-graham

The commercialisation and privatisation of airports in combination with the deregulation of the aviation market has introduced new possibilities for competition among airports. This in turn has meant that there are increased opportunities for airports to develop new strategies to gain competitive advantage. This paper takes a broad overview of the strategies which airports have developed and seeks to assess the relevance of general competitive strategy theory to the airport industry. The paper begins by undertaking a competitive analysis of the airport industry from both the airline and passenger viewpoint. The competing forces are found to be very different but cannot be considered entirely separately because of the interdependence of airline and passenger demand. The non-aeronautical product for the passengers is found to be the most easy to influence but even apparently fixed features of the airport product, such as location, can be affected by efforts to extent the catchment area. The paper then questions the relevance of Porter’s generic competitive strategies to airports – particularly the cost leadership strategy. This is followed by an assessment of the strategic directions which airports have pursued and the strategic methods which they have used. Airport privatisation has allowed for options such as horizontal integration to be adopted, although the benefits are not always that clear. The paper concludes by discussing the options available to low cost carriers which are providing new challenges for both small and medium sized airports in the area of competitive advantage