Reconsidering airport economic impact assessments: A bottom-up comparative analysis of Belgian airports

IF 3.9 2区工程技术 Q2 TRANSPORTATION

Journal of Air Transport Management Pub Date : 2025-07-17 DOI:10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102854

Jolien Pauwels , Sven Buyle , Wouter Dewulf , Bart Jourquin

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study analyses and compares the economic impact of Belgium's five commercial airports on their region and country. The airports represent different types, including Belgium's main airport, Brussels Airport and four regional airports: a low-cost regional airport (Brussels South Charleroi Airport), a specialised cargo regional airport (Liège Airport), and two small regional airports (Antwerp Airport and Ostend-Bruges Airport). The economic impact is measured through input-output analysis, which assesses added value and employment on a direct, indirect, and induced level. To improve accuracy, we employ a bottom-up approach that links company-level employment and added value data to the input-output framework via NACE classifications. Additionally, a Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis is introduced to strengthen the robustness of our findings.

Our results demonstrate significant differences in the airports' economic contributions based on airport size and operational focus, with Liège Airport's cargo specialisation generating a particularly strong regional impact. These findings lead to a broader discussion on airport subsidies based on the economic impact. Beyond the Belgian context, our bottom-up approach provides a replicable framework for more precise airport impact assessments.

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重新考虑机场经济影响评估：比利时机场自下而上的比较分析

本研究分析并比较了比利时五个商业机场对其所在地区和国家的经济影响。这些机场代表了不同的类型，包括比利时的主要机场，布鲁塞尔机场和四个区域机场：一个低成本区域机场（布鲁塞尔南沙勒罗瓦机场），一个专业货运区域机场（利瓦里奇机场）和两个小型区域机场（安特卫普机场和奥斯坦德-布鲁日机场）。经济影响是通过投入产出分析来衡量的，投入产出分析在直接、间接和诱导水平上评估增加值和就业。为了提高准确性，我们采用了一种自下而上的方法，通过NACE分类将公司层面的就业和增加值数据与投入产出框架联系起来。此外，引入蒙特卡罗灵敏度分析来加强我们研究结果的稳健性。我们的研究结果表明，根据机场规模和运营重点，各机场的经济贡献存在显著差异，其中利弗里奇机场的货运专业化产生了特别强烈的区域影响。这些发现引发了基于经济影响对机场补贴的更广泛讨论。除了比利时的情况，我们自下而上的方法为更精确的机场影响评估提供了一个可复制的框架。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Air Transport Management TRANSPORTATION-

CiteScore

12.40

自引率

11.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of Air Transport Management (JATM) sets out to address, through high quality research articles and authoritative commentary, the major economic, management and policy issues facing the air transport industry today. It offers practitioners and academics an international and dynamic forum for analysis and discussion of these issues, linking research and practice and stimulating interaction between the two. The refereed papers in the journal cover all the major sectors of the industry (airlines, airports, air traffic management) as well as related areas such as tourism management and logistics. Papers are blind reviewed, normally by two referees, chosen for their specialist knowledge. The journal provides independent, original and rigorous analysis in the areas of: • Policy, regulation and law • Strategy • Operations • Marketing • Economics and finance • Sustainability