Air Transport Policy and Planning

Course summary

As air travel continues to increase, airports and airlines sometimes struggle to meet demand. Constrained airports have limited expansion capacity and new airports are major infrastructure projects that take both time and investment and developing air services are sometimes in conflict with other government policy objectives. The growing understanding of environmental issues has resulted in the wider integration of sustainability initiatives throughout the industry as has the greater appreciation of the need to provide greater access to disabled passengers. 

This has resulted in continuously evolving policies and a dynamic regulatory framework for air transport. This seminar aims to address a number of key issues of interest to airport and airline planners and managers and those formulating air transport policy. 

Airport capacity and possible expansion measures will be examined in conjunction with surface transport. The implications of airline strategies for airports will be addressed, with specific regard to changing patterns of passenger demand and airline operations. Environmental issues and the regulations governing them will be examined as well as the growing integration of sustainable measures into aviation operations. Regulations governing passenger rights and recent initiatives in providing accessibility will be examined. There will also be an analysis of the competition and capacity issues in the industry. Government policy in the UK and other countries will be discussed. 

We will consider the following topics:

• Measures to expand airport capacity in relation to both terminals and runways and the interaction with surface transport 
• Economic and environmental issues 
• Changing patterns of passenger demand and airline operations
• The implications of airline strategies for airports, with reference to changing patterns of passenger demand and airline operations 
• Regulations governing passenger rights and recent initiatives in providing accessibility  
• Government policy in the UK and other countries 

Who is this course for?

This air transport seminar has been designed to appeal to a wide range of participants including airport planners, managers and operational staff, airport specialists in government departments, airline executives involved with airport planning, analysts from aircraft manufacturers and consultants.

Course structure

This 3 day course is based around lecture sessions, including questions and discussions on topics such as:

• Airport capacity and management issues 
• Sustainability in airport development 
• Accessibility in aviation 
• Current issues in the economic regulation of aviation (including alliances, anti-trust, unfair competition and consumer rights) 
• Managing the effects of aircraft noise 
• Airline competition issues: a case study of London and New York 
• Airport demand and capacity decisions 
• Passenger rights 
• Climate policy and key policy mechanisms 
• Intermodal competition 
• liberalisation – unfinished business/