Assessing the impact of airport incentive schemes on regional air connectivity differentials across Europe

This paper presents the results of the widest audit to date of airport incentive schemes across Europe. Using data from 2017 to 2021, incentive schemes for more than 400 airports have been listed and classified by incentive type. The top five categories of incentive were related to new routes, passenger growth, frequency and capacity, confidential agreements and airports with no incentives. The study also detailed change in direct connectivity between 2014 and 2019 for over 1,300 NUTS3 level regions across Europe and for the bottom 40 and top 40 regions by change in direct connectivity. The impact of the absence or presence of airport incentive schemes were assessed using cross-tabulations. The results show that there is limited evidence at a broader level of the employed incentive schemes having an impact on change in direct connectivity over the observed period or indeed on having an impact on the observed air connectivity inequalities that developed across Europe. There is some preliminary evidence that airports that have seen growth in direct connectivity have felt less of a need to offer such a wide range of incentive schemes, providing added weight to the notion that underlying regional economic activity is more likely to be a greater driver of airline route decision making than the presence or absence of airport incentive schemes.