ABSTRACT
In transport infrastructure concessions, the sources of revenue to the private partner (or concessionaire) may include (i) the infrastructure users (e.g., landing fees, in the case of airports), (ii) the government (e.g. through availability payments), and (iii) both users and government, which might be called a hybrid concession. An example of the latter is a highway concession where the concessionaire charges tolls to the road users but, because of relatively low revenues, the government agency complements the toll revenue with availability payments. Focusing on airports, this paper summarizes the cases where it may be justified for the government to complement users' revenues and describes a model developed for the financial assessment of airport concessions involving payments by both the government and airport users, through the collection of several charges. The methodology described in the paper is also used to review the flexibility in new or ongoing airport concessions to mitigate traffic risks, which have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology can also be applied to other forms of transport infrastructure. A practical application of the model is demonstrated in the paper, using publicly available information, as well as basic assumptions, to build case studies for the Larnaca and Paphos airports in Cyprus. The model can also be used to carry out sensitivity analyses of the impact of key input parameters on outputs such as the investor's return on equity and annual debt service cover ratio. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
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African aviation has witnessed steady growth pre-COVID and as result of increased demand for air travel, there is an urgent need to improve the air transport infrastructure. This chapter examines the underlining complexities and challenges that are undermining the African region's propensity to exploit its growth trajectory. The chapter explores multiple differences in regional airport infrastructure. Infrastructure is considered a key component of the investment climate, reducing costs of doing business and enabling people to access markets. In general, Africa, by every measure of infrastructure coverage, lags behind their peers in other parts of the developing world. Poor infrastructure of most African airports is seen as a principal reason why the region continues to struggle to fulfil its undoubtedly economic potential. These infrastructure problems can hardly be solved due to limited financial resources and will therefore consequently lead to retaining infrastructure problems. The chapter proposes a series of blueprint measures in order to galvanize Africa's growth potential within air transport development. This calls for speeding up privatization and allowing more private equity investments to support air infrastructure improvements. The most desired option to finance airport infrastructure would be the Public–Private Partnership (PP). However, on the local level, banks have relative weak capital coffers, which also limit access to infrastructure capital loans. Investors see some underlining risks in financing airport projects in Africa, namely uncertainty related to forecasts of passenger growth numbers. Other risks are embedded in currency markets, whereby most domestic airport infrastructure with project revenues is generated in local currencies, but servicing foreign debt and equity involves payment in foreign currency. The chapter finally examines the impact of COVID-19 on airport operations. From 2019 to 2021, airports were severely affected by the global pandemic causing massive loss of revenues for both airport operators and airlines. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has impacted the aviation industry worldwide. Several restrictions and regulations have been implemented to prevent the virus's spread and maintain airport operations. To recover the trustworthiness of air travelers in the new normality, improving airport service quality (ASQ) is necessary, ultimately increasing passenger satisfaction in airports. This research focuses on the relationship between passenger satisfaction and the ASQ dimensions of airports in Thailand. A three-stage analysis model was conducted by integrating structural equation modeling, Bayesian networks, and artificial neural networks to identify critical ASQ dimensions that highly impact overall satisfaction. The findings reveal that airport facilities, wayfinding, and security are three dominant dimensions influencing overall passenger satisfaction. This insight could help airport managers and operators recover passenger satisfaction, increase trustworthiness, and maintain the efficiency of the airports in not only this severe crisis but also in the new normality.
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This paper aims to visualise three financial distress outlooks using computer simulations. The financial distress exposure for airport operations in Malaysia between 1991 and 2021 is given by Altman Z”-score and modelled by the multivariate generalized linear model (MGLM). Seven determinants contributing to the financial distress from literature are examined. The determinant series are fitted individually by using linear model with time series components and autoregressive integrated moving average models to forecast values for the next 10 financial years. Future short- to long-term memory effects following COVID-19 are apparent in time series plots. In the simulations, the MGLM procedure utilised Gaussian, gamma, and Cauchy probability distributions associated with expectations and challenges of doing business as well as uncertainties in the economy. The underlying trends of realistic, optimistic, and pessimistic financial distress outlooks insinuate that the increasing risk of financial distress of airport operations in Malaysia is expected to continue for the next decade.
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In this paper, the DEA-Malmquist model is used to evaluate static and dynamic efficiency of 30 civil airports in China from 2016 to 2021. The developments of airports in different regions are discussed from these aspects: the impact of local government policies and COVID-19 on changes of airports' total factor productivity, and differences in operating efficiency of airports in different regions. The results show that: there are great differences in the operating efficiency of airports in China, and the low pure technical efficiency is the main reason leading to the low technological efficiency. The stagnation of total factor productivity of Chinese airports is mainly influenced by technological progress, and its negative effect drags down the stable technical efficiency and scale efficiency. There are obvious differences in operating efficiency among different regions. Airports in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta have the highest efficiency, the Chengdu-Chongqing region has the fastest development, and the northeast region has the slowest development and the lowest operating efficiency. © 2022 ACM.
ABSTRACT
In transport infrastructure concessions, the sources of revenue to the private partner (or concessionaire) may include (i) the infrastructure users (e.g., landing fees, in the case of airports), (ii) the government (e.g. through availability payments), and (iii) both users and government, which might be called a hybrid concession. An example of the latter is a highway concession where the concessionaire charges tolls to the road users but, because of relatively low revenues, the government agency complements the toll revenue with availability payments. Focusing on airports, this paper summarizes the cases where it may be justified for the government to complement users' revenues and describes a model developed for the financial assessment of airport concessions involving payments by both the government and airport users, through the collection of several charges. The methodology described in the paper is also used to review the flexibility in new or ongoing airport concessions to mitigate traffic risks, which have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology can also be applied to other forms of transport infrastructure. A practical application of the model is demonstrated in the paper, using publicly available information, as well as basic assumptions, to build case studies for the Larnaca and Paphos airports in Cyprus. The model can also be used to carry out sensitivity analyses of the impact of key input parameters on outputs such as the investor's return on equity and annual debt service cover ratio. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.
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Intro: Mass gathering events (MGEs) are associated with the transmission of COVID-19. The world's largest mass gathering hajj pilgrimage 2022 was held after two years of major disruption caused by the COVID pandemic, with one million pilgrims of different ages, health statuses, hygiene sophistication and close contact. This study aimed to estimate the Prevalence of COVID-19 among returning Pakistani pilgrims at Islamabad International Airport, its association with these MGEs and to quantify the potential risk factors associated. Method(s): A retrospective cohort study was carried out at Islamabad International Airport from 14th July to 13th August 2022. A representative sample of 1100 people with potential exposure at Hajj 2022 was surveyed by a questionnaire to obtain information about attendance at hajj and COVID-19 disease. In addition, Rapid antigen testing (RAT) against SARS-Cov-2 was implemented. Statistical analysis was done using Epi info version 7. Finding(s): A total of 1100 subjects participated in the questionnaire survey and underwent rapid antigen testing. The mean age was 49.7+/-10.4. Almost 17.9% of the respondents experienced Covid-like symptoms with sore throat and fever as the most frequent symptoms. Three cases were detected by RAT with an attack rate (AR) of 0.3%;79.7% were female. Considering MGE exposure, AR was 0.2 %. All participants were fully vaccinated with 86.5% boosted with one dose. A dose- response relationship was found between MGE attendance and the disease, (adjusted relative risk [ARR] = 3.4- 5% confidence interval [CI] 2.25-3.5). Associated risk factors with the incidence were co-morbidity (RR=5.2) and non- use of face masks (RR=9). Conclusion(s): The study highlights the significance of MGEs in COVID-19 transmission. Vaccination and booster shots significantly reduced the risk of Covid-19 transmission among the returning pilgrims. With surveillance, screening and Rapid antigen testing at Points of entry, risk of future pandemics is significantly reduced.Copyright © 2023
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Intro: The outbreak of COVID-19 has affected global mobility through various travel disruptions and restrictions. In lieu of the increased cases globally and variants of concerns escaping immunity, the government of Pakistan as an immediate response and as part of a risk mitigation strategy implemented a revised inbound passenger policy to filter the importation of virus through on arrival Rapid antigen Testing (RAT) on all the operational Airports from 5th May 2021. This study was done to analyze the effectiveness of the RAT testing at the points of entry (airports) across Pakistan. Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted and 1700 RAT positive cases were enrolled from 5 th May 2021 to 5 th November 2021 on all operational eight airports. RAT-positive nasopharyngeal samples were confirmed by Real-Time PCR for SARS-CoV-2. Finding(s): Out of the total l700 RAT positive cases enrolled in this study, the prevalence of SARS CoV-2 among inbound passengers during the period from 5 th May-5 th November 2021 was 0.3%. Among selected subjects, 72% were males, 26 % were females and 2% were children. The mean age was 45+/-10.6 years (range 6-65). The RT PCR analysis was reactive for SARS-CoV-2 in 95% of the cases. All the confirmed cases were shifted to state-maintained quarantine facilities as per policy. Conclusion(s): There is a dire need for rapid SARS COV 2 diagnostics in a limited time frame. In resource- limited countries like Pakistan RAT kits can serve as an effective tool for disease mapping as part of a comprehensive mitigation strategy and surveillance of the entry points for the filtration of imported cases to prevent further disease spread.Copyright © 2023
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Until recently, addressing the environmental externalities associated with the use of the private car and single occupancy vehicles has been the focus of the airport ground access policies worldwide. However, with the emerging unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have already changed the way we live, work, and travel, encouraging a change in commuter behavior has become even more important. This has necessitated that existing strategies be reconsidered in favor of adapting to a highly uncertain ‘‘COVID-19 world.'' Historically, there has been a dearth of literature relating to airport employees' ground access even though as a group employees represent an important segment of airport users with complex access requirements. This paper therefore focuses on airport employee related airport ground access strategies considering an emerging understanding of the future impacts of COVID-19 on global air travel. Pre-COVID strategies are investigated by conducting a documentary analysis of the most recent ground access strategies of 27 UK airports. The findings reveal that airport ground access strategies were mainly focused on setting targets and producing policy measures in favor of reducing car use and increasing the use of more sustainable transport modes including public transport, car sharing, and active travel (walking, cycling). However, measures encouraging public transport and car sharing will be more difficult to implement because of social distancing and fear of proximity to others. Instead, initiatives encouraging remote working, active travel, and improved staff awareness will be at the forefront of the future ground access strategy development. © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2021.
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This paper examines the effect of security oversight on air cargo price and demand. We exploit variations in security oversight instituted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). We estimate a simultaneous equation model using proprietary operations data from a major airline in South Korea over the period 2009–2013. This study explores the shipping-charge behavior of a service provider through a modeling approach that considers air cargo security. Our findings show that security oversight increases air cargo demand, controlling for the effect of price. Improving security measures increases the air cargo price, but the magnitude of this increase is small. Our results should help policymakers gauge the benefit of improved security and help airlines design an effective model to determine future air cargo shipping charges under high uncertainty to mitigate short- and long-term financial risks.
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The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to a nearly world-wide shelter-in-place strategy. This raises several natural concerns about the safe relaxing of current restrictions. This article focuses on the design and operation of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in the context of transportation. Do HVAC systems have a role in limiting viral spread? During shelter-in-place, can the HVAC system in a dwelling or a vehicle help limit spread of the virus? After the shelter-in-place strategy ends, can typical workplace and transportation HVAC systems limit spread of the virus? This article directly addresses these and other questions. In addition, it also summarizes simplifying assumptions needed to make meaningful predictions. This article derives new results using transform methods first given in Ginsberg and Bui. These new results describe viral spread through an HVAC system and estimate the aggregate dose of virus inhaled by an uninfected building or vehicle occupant when an infected occupant is present within the same building or vehicle. Central to these results is the derivation of a quantity called the "protection factor"-a term-of-art borrowed from the design of gas masks. Older results that rely on numerical approximations to these differential equations have long been lab validated. This article gives the exact solutions in fixed infrastructure for the first time. These solutions, therefore, retain the same lab validation of the older methods of approximation. Further, these exact solutions yield valuable insights into HVAC systems used in transportation.
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The issue of the development of airport infrastructure in a given territorial unit, particularly its effect on that unit, is a complex phenomenon that requires study and analysis. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to analyse the functioning of airports in crisis states that have taken place recently. The airport embodies an enormous and yet untapped potential. Airports can perform not only the functions of transportation and communication, but they can also be important catalysts for economic prosperity, and thus create development opportunities for many regions and administrative units. Assumption made that the following and overlapping crisis states strongly slow down the development and negatively affect the functioning of airports, and this translates into local and regional increase of a given spatial unit in which a given airport is located. Therefore, this study is devoted to answer the following questions: (1) what are the function of modern airports and what is their impact on various industries of the economy in the given area;(2) what is airports' contribution to creating new jobs;(3) what are the effects of the airport on the socio-economic development of the spatial unit, taking into account the current impacts a result of the crisis, which was the state of the COVID-19 pandemic and the military conflict in Ukraine which was started in 2022;(4) what is the strategic importance of airports in connection with the performance of important functions for a given area, especially in periods and states of crisis threat. As a result of the conducted analyses presented were the potential opportunities and threats for the development of airports, from the perspective of economic and social growth, and against the background of global and European trends, as well as the Polish market conditions and the growing importance of ensuring safety.
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This study uses a large dataset to consider the network change of the three largest European Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air during the pre-Covid-19 period and the Covid-19 pandemic period. Network changes are characterized in terms of airport pairs, city pairs, numbers of flights and network overlaps. The results show that European LCCs increasingly expanded their networks into markets that had already been served by incumbent LCCs, which indicates that LCCs increasingly compete head-to-head among themselves. Difference-in-differences regressions estimate that network overlaps among these LCCs lead to airfare reductions of approximately six Euros, ten percent.
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Urban air fine particles are a major health-relating problem. However, it is not well understood how the health-relevant features of fine particles should be monitored. Limitations of PM2.5 (mass concentration of sub 2.5 µm particles), which is commonly used in the health effect estimations, have been recognized and, e.g., World Health Organization (WHO) has released good practice statements for particle number (PN) and black carbon (BC) concentrations (2021). In this study, a characterization of urban wintertime aerosol was done in three environments: a detached housing area with residential wood combustion, traffic-influenced streets in a city centre and near an airport. The particle characteristics varied significantly between the locations, resulting different average particle sizes causing lung deposited surface area (LDSA). Near the airport, departing planes had a major contribution on PN, and most particles were smaller than 10 nm, similarly as in the city centre. The high hourly mean PN (>20 000 1/cm3) stated in the WHO's good practices was clearly exceeded near the airport and in the city centre, even though traffic rates were reduced due to a SARS-CoV-2-related partial lockdown. In the residential area, wood combustion increased both BC and PM2.5, but also PN of sub 10 and 23 nm particles. The high concentrations of sub 10 nm particles in all the locations show the importance of the chosen lower size limit of PN measurement, e.g., WHO states that the lower limit should be 10 nm or smaller. Furthermore, due to ultrafine particle emissions, LDSA per unit PM2.5 was 1.4 and 2.4 times higher near the airport than in the city centre and the residential area, respectively, indicating that health effects of PM2.5 depend on urban environment as well as conditions, and emphasizing the importance of PN monitoring in terms of health effects related to local pollution sources.
Subject(s)
Air Pollutants , Air Pollution , COVID-19 , Humans , Particulate Matter/analysis , Air Pollutants/analysis , Environmental Monitoring/methods , SARS-CoV-2 , Communicable Disease Control , Respiratory Aerosols and Droplets , Air Pollution/analysis , Particle Size , Lung/chemistry , Soot , Vehicle Emissions/analysisABSTRACT
This paper explored the temporary facilities created during the pandemic for use as COVID-19 test centers at Zaventem Airport, the main airport for the city of Brussels, Belgium. The possibilities of modular construction technology and the impact of the building envelope on users' perception of indoor space comfort and privacy were closely observed. The three main problem statements were as follows: (1) the COVID-19 crisis indirectly influenced the creation of temporary modular buildings with glass envelopes;(2) the modular envelope is adaptable to the existing context;and (3) the envelope meets the needs of the users. This study's objectives were to identify the critical factors for users' well-being in temporary modular buildings, and to conduct factor comparisons among different users and between different building-enclosure systems. The study data were collected through a subjective assessment using a SWOT analysis and a survey questionnaire. The glass facade affected the users' acceptance levels of comfort and privacy. The main results show that the users were satisfied with the level of comfort and dissatisfied with the level of privacy. This information can be used to identify areas for improvement and provide useful feedback to designers and engineers about specific design features and operating strategies for temporary modular emergency healthcare buildings.
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In order to improve airport network ' s ability to cope with emergencies, topological characteristics of Chinese airport network before and after COVID-19 were analyzed based on complex network theory. And the network was weighted by using node strength, and an invulnerability assessment method was developed after identifying inflection points of loss fitting curves for weighted network characteristics metrics under different attack strategies. The results show that the topological structure of airport weighted network has no significant changes before and after the pandemic, but its connectivity is slightly sparse. And the airport network in China is much more vulnerable under different intentional attack strategies. When attack ratio reaches 8. 6%, inflection point of loss fitting curves will appear, and relative loss of global network efficiency will amount to 24. 39%, while reduction rate of the largest connected subgraph reaches 14. 67%, and relative loss of average degree and average clustering coefficient is up to 76. 87% and 68. 84%, respectively. Moreover, loss of network efficiency and the largest connected subgraph reduction rate accelerates after inflection points, in which stage the network will be paralyzed. © 2022 China Safety Science Journal. All rights reserved.
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This paper investigates the intellectual structure of the literature addressing "epidemic/pandemic" and "aviation industry" through a bibliometric approach to the literature from 1991 to 2021. The final count of 856 publications was collected from Web of Science and analyzed by CiteSpace (version 5.8.R1) and VOS Viewer. Visualization tools are used to perform the co-citation, co-occurrence, and thematic-based cluster analysis. The results highlight the most prominent nodes (articles, authors, journals, countries, and institutions) within the literature on "epidemic/pandemic" and "aviation industry." Furthermore, this study conceptualizes and compares the growth of literature before theCOVID-19 pandemic and during the COVID-19 ("hotspot") era. The conclusion is that the aviation industry is an engine for global economics on the road to recovery from COVID-19, in which soft (human) resources can play an integral part.
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Aviation is one of the most severely impacted industries by COVID-19. The passenger boarding-process is not only a bottleneck but is also one of the riskiest processes for COVID-19 transmission. There is a need for a decision-support tool that can proactively test the impact of COVID-19 policies on the passenger boarding-process. We achieve this by developing an adaptable modeling approach to Discrete Event Simulation (DES) that simulates the process of boarding under different COVID-19 policies and boarding-strategies. DES model was created using time and motion studies, flightlogs and manuals. Programing-logic was created using n=29 subject-matter experts. As a demonstrator-case, we tested seven of the most common boarding-strategies under different COVID-19 stages: pre-COVID, COVID-19 stage 1 and 2. Preliminary-results show the COVID-19 transmission risk may be decreased with a trade-off: passenger-satisfaction may decrease due to an increase in boarding-time and waiting-time. Steffen's method was most-effective in minimizing COVID-19 risk but is the most difficult to implement. Reverse pyramid and Window Middle Aisle, while slightly less effective than Steffen's method, but overall, more-effective and easier to implement with minimal COVID-19 risk. For COVID-19 stage 1 and 2, boarding time increased up to 33% and 64%, respectively, in-comparison to baseline pre-pandemic conditions. Further, up to 1.5 and 6.6 seat and aisle interferences along with a jetway-seat time of up to 13 minutes were observed. The developed modeling approach serves as a direct response to ICAO's (International Civil Aviation Organization) need for a tool to proactively test and develop policies that minimize COVID-19 risk. © 2022 Operations and Supply Chain Management Forum. All rights reserved.
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Background: It is against the background of the emerging incidence of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria and the need for its management that this study adapts the gravity model for predicting the risk of the disease across states of the country. Method(s): The paper relied on published government data on population and gross domestic product, while the distance of town to the nearest international airport was also obtained. These data were log-transformed and further used in the calculation of gravity scores for each state of the federation. Result(s): The study discovered that with the gravity score ranging from 2.942 to 4.437, all the states of the federation have the risk of being infected with the pandemic. Meanwhile, Ogun State (4.837) has a very high risk of being infected with the disease. Other states with high risks are Oyo (4.312), Jigawa (4.235), Niger (4.148), and Katsina (4.083). However, Taraba State has the least infection risk of pandemic in Nigeria. Factors influencing the risk level of the pandemic are proximity, the porous boundary between states, and elitism. Conclusion(s): The paper advocates border settlement planning, review of housing standards, and advocacy for sanitation in different states. It, therefore, concludes that adequate urban planning in unison with economic and epidemiology techniques will provide a strong strategy for the management of the disease.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.
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Any collision between wildlife (including birds) with an aircraft is known as a wildlife strike. Most of the time such a strike has no operational impact but occasionally it could result in delays because of a technical check or even cause damage to aircraft. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected Europe's transport sector. Air connectivity collapsed worldwide and the demand on the airports operated by Fraport Greece (FG) decreased significantly during the pandemic years (2020–21). With less air traffic and more stay-home orders, a variety of bird species were attracted to the green, quieter areas of the airports. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued warnings concerning the increased presence of wildlife hazards in European airports. This case study aims to communicate to the aviation industry the wildlife strike prevention strategy implemented at the airports operated by FG during the pandemic years. The fundamentals of wildlife management, airport ecology, flight safety and sustainability are presented in a structured way to provide the reader with many relevant messages. The management implications, together with the best practices of this preventive wildlife strike strategy, are discussed for their possible wider use in the aviation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Airport Management is the property of Henry Stewart Publications LLP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)