The airline industry is now facing one of the biggest crises in its history. Despite a decade of growth and the formation of strong global alliances, the industry has not been able to absorb the shock. Even government support has not prevented a number of large international airlines from becoming bankrupt. In the same decade airports have transformed from a public service to a value creator in a transport network. The formation of large hubs has allowed them to generate substantial non-operational revenues. The classical relationship between airlines and airports has changed and further deregulation and privatisation of airports could lead to further interesting opportunities. However the effects of 11 September 2001 have also greatly affected the profitable airports. Passenger numbers have decreased, investments have been halted and in a number of cases privatisation plans have been postponed. In this paper the interdependence of airline alliances and airports and the effect the current crisis has on this relationship is studied. The crisis-inducted changes on a number of airline/airport combinations will be studied and suggestions will be made how the airports and airlines can weather a future storm. For the covering abstract see ITRD E124693.
Samenvatting