Aviation Value Chain Analysis

1.1. The aviation value chain

The value chain shown below describes all the activities involved in air travel. Airports serve as a gateway to aviation and hence are a key link in the air transport value chain. They play a vital role in facilitating tourism and business travel and global supply chains as well. For inbound travelers, an airport contributes to their first impression of a city or country, and for outbound travel, particularly on short-haul journeys, passengers may spend as much, or even more, time at the airport as they do in the air.

Figure 5 Aviation value chain analysis
1.2. Airport Business Models

A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. It is critical that

Competitiveness
Airports operate in a highly competitive environment and therefore encourage developments which make the airport sector more responsive to the needs of their passenger and airline customers. Competition in the airline sector has been a driver of innovation and cost reduction and has delivered major benefits for consumers in terms of increased choice and value. Effective competition between airports is clearly something to be encouraged for the same reasons.
“Within the aviation industry, MRO, ground handling, catering, CRS and freight forwarding created economic profits, but these were much more than offset by economic losses by airlines and airports. Airlines were responsible for the large USD17 billion of economic losses globally. The returns generated by airports are weighed down by the US, where airports are owned by local governments and funded by tax-efficient municipal bonds. They are not run to generate a return in their own right, but to bring wider economic benefits. Outside the US, airports generally produce higher returns, often aided by price regulation.” (CAPA,

Competition situation
Porter’s 5 forces model below describes the competition and the relationship among the different players. (IATA, Profitability and the air transport value chain, 2013) Figure 8 Porter’s five forces model for airports (IATA, Profitability and the air transport value chain, 2013)

Market forces
Some competition is emerging in the airports sector, largely for regional airports and for some transfer markets. There is little evidence that this is sufficient to constrain charges at large hub airports.

Regulation
Economic regulation needs to be independent of government and incentive-based. Where an airport has significant market power incentive-based regulation is the only price regulation that will deliver efficiency gains. Airports usually have high credit ratings and can bear risk more easily than airlines. Regulation should be designed to facilitate this.

Standards
Poor passenger experience with check-in and security processes is another factor leading to a commoditization of the airline product and a low customer willingness to pay. Standards being introduced and proposed by the fast travel and checkpoint of the future programs and others could play an important role in improving passenger experience and willingness to