Intangible regional effects of regional airports: A system analysis of Switzerland

Abstract

The operation of airports induces various external effects. In public discussion, the evaluation of external economic effects is an important factor for the legitimation of airport infrastructures. Whereas the economic effects of main airports have been widely researched and are monetary (eg revenues and job creation), nonmonetary catalytic effects (eg structural, competence and network effects) are identified, which for regional airports are not yet broadly documented. As the direct monetary effects of airports are often quite weak, the intangible and nonmonetary catalytic effects have an important role. This paper delivers an analytical framework for the intangible and nonmonetary catalytic economic regional effects of small airports. It provides a classification of such effects and involves system analyses as a method to analyse such effects. It is a case study of Swiss regional airports Altenrhein, Bern, Sion, Lugano and Samedan.