A Model for Measuring Airport Competitiveness: The Case of Zurich Airport

This paper focuses on hub airport competition for airlines and for transfer traffic but not for origin – destination passengers. There is an ongoing discussion about airport competitiveness and factors used to measure and compare competitiveness of airports. The question raised addresses whether the competitiveness of airports can objectively be compared and which implications can be derived with respect to the case of Zurich Airport, the hub of Switzerland. Therefore, the authors develop a comprehensive model of airport competitiveness based on five main factors: environmental factors, demand factors, managerial factors, facility factors and service factors. To assess its competitiveness, Zurich Airport is compared with seven European competitors for transfer traffic. Among eight airports Zurich Airport is ranked fifth. The most competitive airport thereof turned out to be Schiphol, followed by Paris CDG, London Heathrow and Frankfurt. The results show that the competitiveness of Zurich Airport is inhibited through the strict regulations for capacity extensions, operation hours and the regulations regarding noise. As growth at Zurich Airport is limited due to capacity restrictions, it is questionable if the airport will be competitive in the future.