expertise
The economic issues related to aviation, airports and the other players in the sector require wide-ranging expertise in general economics and econometrics, in-depth knowledge of the industry itself, a thorough understanding of relevant policy issues, an international orientation and, last but not least, a feeling for the relationships between all those involved.
Combining the knowledge and skills mentioned above, the Aviation Economics section is a unique national and international centre of research in its field.
Some of its expertise has been put together to create a number of directly applicable models.
- NetScan is an important diagnostic tool for existing networks and their connectivity potential. Airlines, airports and governments have all benefited from its ability to quantify networks in terms of connectivity units.
- NetCost makes it possible to calculate the effects of network changes in terms of generalised transport costs, both temporal and monetary, for airlines and airports.
- Aviadem is a series of arithmetical models for flexible application in forecasting and scenario development for airports, which need to base their master plans upon long-term traffic and transport projections. Rather than the traditional "crystal-ball" style of forecasting, which by definition is bound to be inaccurate, the primary focus of these models is the risk analysis of possible future market developments.
As well as these specific models, the section is gradually developing standard approaches in a number of other areas.
- Good visualisation of the results of network analyses, using the NetMap method developed by the section itself.
- Rapid completion of airport benchmark studies.
- Short-term car-parking forecasts for airports, in order to optimise revenues from parking.
- Matching aviation forecasts for tourism-dependent island economies to the take-up of holiday accommodation. This should also enable the rapid quantification of new tourism marketing strategies.
To keep the section's knowledge of its sector up to date, its staff are active participants in national and international aviation-related academic bodies and knowledge networks. They also make regular contributions to symposia and congresses in order to evaluate and add to the latest developments in their field. When possible, the results of research in Aviation Economics are reported in the international academic literature and through guest lectures at Dutch and foreign universities.