Major sporting events HOT TOPIC
Number of seats
in frequencies and a 15.9% jump in seat numbers to 20.8 million. However, Grant notes that any positive
impact lasted no more than a couple of years, and that even a spike recorded a few years later can be easily explained. He adds: “The numbers are always
complicated by other issues. Two to three years after the Olympics in Athens there is a spike. The reason for that is its airport started engaging with the low-cost carriers. “I’m afraid it gives a mixed picture of the
possible impact of hosting the Olympics. “Athens saw quite a significant increase
in frequency and capacity in 2004 but a decline in frequency and capacity a year after the event, and 2006 was slightly down on the Olympic year of 2004. “All of which leads me to conclude that
aside from Beijing, where I suspect the wider economic picture was driving the growth, the Olympics are at best neutral and that ultimately, as a single event, it cannot override the economic and market sentiment of the time.” Grant says much of this is down to
airlines being far more commercially minded when it comes to their own businesses, particularly when they have their eyes fixed on the long term. He says: “Airlines will be looking at the performance of a route. If it is performing
well and continues to perform well, it will stay. If it doesn’t, it gets dropped or frequencies will be reduced. “Also if you dip in and out of the market,
it is very expensive. [Airlines want] to make a long-term investment.”
Host’s obligations Airports also need to be wary of the expense and additional work that serving a host city requires, citing the example of Heathrow, which was required to build a temporary terminal to process the extra traffic during the 2012 games. Staffing costs also go up with longer
hours and more workers needed, although Grant admits airports do receive some benefits from the event. He adds: “Airports still get the prestige of being part of the host city and an initial increased commercial spend from visitors and athletes who are passing through because of the games.” Grant is not entirely pessimistic about the
games overall; he says they build awareness, show cities in their best light, improve the population’s morale and deliver some excellent sport to watch. But when it comes to route development,
he urges airports to keep their eyes open and reflect that even taking part in one the biggest events in the world does not guarantee a gold medal at the end of it. £
Number of % growth seats
(total)
1999 17,913,505 2000 19,683,386 2001 19,655,662 2002 16,780,144 2003 17,917,597 2004 20,768,864 2005 19,771,641 2006 20,368,077 2007 22,434,215 2008 23,167,067 2009 24,101,998
year-on -year
- 9.9% -0.1%
-14.6% 6.8%
15.9% -4.8% 3.0%
10.1% 3.3% 4.0%
Number of % growth seats
(total)
2003 44,225,731 53,370,162 89,725,776 67,379,737
2004 2005 2006
2007 73,348,872 79,931,856 89,725,776 97,549,271
2008 2009 2010
2011 101,728,461 2012 109,757,694 2013 113,419,040
year-on -year
-
20.7% 12.3% 14.0% 8.9% 9.0%
12.3% 8.7% 4.3% 7.9% 3.3%
Number of % growth seats
(total)
2007 178,331,441 2008 178,090,895 2009 167,810,057 2010 169,249,289 2011 171,542,316 2012 172,156,920 2013 173,096,563 2014 180,805,219 2015 190,568,925 2016 200,077,866
year-on -year
-
-0.1% -5.8% 0.9% 1.4% 0.4% 0.5% 4.5% 5.4% 5.0%
Number of % growth seats
(total)
Rio de Janeiro’s capacity will not take off as a result of the Olympics
2011 36,662,881 2012 39,299,276 2013 38,509,008 2014 37,406,106 2015 36,336,760 33,622,373
2016
year-on -year
- 7.2%
-2.0% -2.9% -2.9% -7.5%
routesonline.com ROUTES NEWS 2016 ISSUE 4 43
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