New for old: An analysis of the impact of the new Athens and Oslo airports

Abstract

Over the past decade Europe has experienced a relatively rare occurrence: the replacement of two major airports serving capital cities. Gardermoen Airport serving Oslo replaced the heavily constrained Fornebu in October 1998, while the old facility serving Athens was superseded by Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in April 2001.The impact on traffic growth and mix, airline competition, seat capacity offered and the number of destinations served is assessed in each case. Analysis of the influence of the two new facilities on traffic levels reveals that the expected increase from the opening of the two new airports has not been realised in the case of Athens, but has been in the case of Oslo.The reasons why this has occurred are discussed.