ECONOMICS Airport revenue streams
2010 ACI Airport Economics Survey.
A third of aeronautical income ($51 billion) was derived from aircraft
related revenues, confirming the long-term trend of declining aircraft- related user charges which account for approximately 3.5% of total global airline operating costs. At the same time, income from passenger-related user charges
continued to increase due to disproportionately fewer aircraft movements and a general trend to levy user charges on a passenger basis. There are compelling reasons for the shift away from
aircraft-related to passenger-based charging. None so more than the fact that passenger-related charges do not impact on airline balance sheets as it is only a pass-through item eventually paid by the passenger. As a result, the actual operating costs of carriers can be reduced. By applying this charging scheme, airports share the risk of
decreasing traffic with the carriers as revenues are more dependent on the actual number of passengers departing from the airport and less on the number of aircraft movements or aircraft size. Airlines cut back capacity during the crisis and generated higher
load factors with fewer movements and this charging model has proven fruitful for both airports and airlines. Non-aeronautical revenues declined by 1.5% in 2009. Revenues
from the core commercial areas, however, have gone up by 3%, driven by retail (+2%), real estate (+10%), car rental car concessions (+9%) and food and beverage (+7%).
Car parking (-3.5%) and advertising (-11%) revenues have dropped. Performances in the retail and real estate sectors underscore the
resilience of the airport business model and have helped to protect the bottom line of many airports in a difficult year. Rising revenues from passenger spending may be unexpected in
an environment of falling passenger numbers, yet several reasons and circumstances support the increase. Premium travel was the segment hardest hit by the downturn with demand down by a third at the height of the crisis. With the related reduced access to airline premium lounges, more travellers have been spending dwell time in the public airport areas with exposure to retail and F&B offerings. Furthermore, those who continued to fly demonstrated sustained
buying power that translated into commercial sales. A higher demand for low-cost travel during the economic crisis on
carriers offering reduced or fee-based in-flight services, also may have contributed to increased airport sales, particularly in F&B. Lastly, fewer passengers meant shorter waiting times in queues
at check-in and security, resulting in passengers having longer dwell (and spend) time. Since the onset of the crisis, airlines have shown
considerable restraint in adding capacity back to the market to avoid overcapacity and dropping fares, a strategy that has led them back to profitability.
AIRPORT WORLD/FEBRUARY-MARCH 2011 33
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