Public support of regional airports in european countries

Abstract

Nowadays, regional airports play several important roles. Their main benefit is the positive impact on the economy in many regions, and they also help to relieve the dense and congested air network in several European countries. However, one of the problems with regional airports is that they are not able to generate a profit. This problem is increasingly becoming a trend. The European Union try to provide public support and state aid to this type of airport, but in spite of this fact, their economic situation is not improving. This article is focused on the issue of providing public support and state aid to regional airports. One of the goals is to clarify in what form public support can be granted, for what purpose, who can grant it and also how much it can be granted. Another objective is to analyse and compare the provision of public support to regional airports in different countries before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the findings, there were evaluated the effectiveness of public support provision in terms of whether the amount of public support provided was sufficient for airports. The final section suggests options for the future direction of regional airports, taking into account current market conditions.