Expanding Airport Capacity: Competition, Connectivity and Welfare

The UK Airports Commission requested the International Transport Forum and SEO Economic Research to carry out a series of studies to determine how each of the short-listed expansion options may affect the competitive nature of the London and UK-wide airport system under different scenarios. The impacts of

expansion on consumer welfare do not only depend on the macro-economic and aviation industry future, as defined by the aviation scenarios developed by the Airports Commission, but also on the airline responses that can be expected as capacity comes on stream.

The ITF/SEO studies are designed to answer the question what combination of factors will drive the most “competitive” outcome for each of the expansion options. They aim to provide the Airports Commission with an evidence-based assessment to scrutinise airport capacity expansion options in regard to their competitive outcomes, connectivity and overall user benefits.