AIRPORT PRICING SYSTEMS IN EUROPE AND AN APPLICATION OF RAMSEY PRICING TO SPANISH AIRPORTS

This paper describes the landing fee structures which are prevalent at most European airports: a mix of weight-based landing fees, passenger fees, and other charges. The paper describes alternative pricing syst ems which emphasize economic efficiency rather than airport finance co nsiderations. Finally the paper calculates the structure of landing fe es for a hypothetical uncongested airport using a Ramsey pricing formu lation with data representative of uncongested Spanish airports. Furth er research is necessary before recommending implementation because th e elasticities of demand and operating costs with distance are borrowe d from North American studies. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All righ ts reserved.