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The Spanish airport system contains several regional airports within an amenity distance and alternative travel modes. Profitable airports cross-subsidise small airports, which are not required for regional development or connectivity. Airports are government-owned and centralised-managed by Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA, for its Spanish acronym). This study aims to analyse the probability of an under-used public infrastructure and the AENA’s managerial ability as per the financial sustainability of the network in the long term.

The national regulatory framework determines the airports’ environment. Six airports revealed unobserved heterogeneity, avoiding model misspecification. The framework is defined through proxies of the singularities of the Spanish framework: public investments and geographical specifications. The stochastic frontier analysis model follows two time-varying specifications, accounting for airports’ environmental factors, to ensure the robustness of the results to differ from the inefficiency caused by AENA and external factors.

Airports’ infrastructure capacity and traffic are not correlated; regional airports become a financial burden for the system unless they specialise or differentiate. Proxies defining the airports’ context are relevant. Because airports do not compete for airlines and passengers, there are too many regional airports with little traffic, resulting in disused public infrastructure that falls far short of improving connectivity and regional development.

This study contributes to paying attention to the characteristics of the regulatory framework, such as management strongly centralised in AENA, airport charges decided by the owner, lack of competition and lack of an independent regulatory entity. Another original contribution considers reliable capital measures (airports’ infrastructure).

This study aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on airlines, airports and the destination Andalusia. On that basis, the study has assessed the bankruptcy of some airlines, closure and reduction of the frequency of air routes, COVID-19 measures at airports by governments, etc., to adapt to new circumstances, be efficient and plan their resources according to the tourist demand.

A review of the relevant literature on the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry, airports and tourism sector are undertaken to understand the link between them. The paper begins by explaining the effects of the pandemic on the aviation industry and discusses its impact in the Andalusian region. Furthermore, this study uses secondary data from IATA, AENA, EUROCONTROL, INE, OAG, UNTWO, etc., to support research results.

The results of the effects of the pandemic in Andalusia are being devastating and this destination is heavily dependent on tourism. The drastic drop in flight frequencies at airports during the pandemic has caused an average decrease of −65% in passenger arrivals at airports until October 2020 that is 23 million passengers, too many passengers for the Andalusian economy, which depends mainly on the tourism sector.

The study contributes toward assessing the COVID-19 effects on the aviation industry and tourist destinations. Both sectors will re-emerge in the medium term and at different speeds in different regions. The contribution of this study is essential for managers and operators of airlines, airports and tourist destinations to make better future decisions.

COVID-19 对安达卢西亚旅游业和航空业的影响

本研究旨在分析COVID-19对航空公司、机场和目的地安达卢西亚的影响。在此基础上, 研究评估了部分航空公司破产、关闭和减少航线班次、政府在机场采取的COVID-19措施等, 以适应新形势, 提高效率, 按需规划资源。

审查了关于COVID-19对航空业、机场和旅游部门影响的相关文献, 以了解它们之间的联系。文章首先解释了这一流行病对航空业的影响, 并分析了其对安达卢西亚地区的影响。本研究采用IATA、AENA、EUROCONTROL、INE 、UNTWO、OAG等机构的二手数据来支持研究结果。

安达卢西亚大流行的影响结果是毁灭性的, 这个目的地严重依赖旅游业。大流行期间, 机场的航班频次急剧下降, 导致安达卢西亚6个机场到2020年10月的旅客数量平均下降了−65%, 即2300万人次, 对于主要依靠旅游业的安达卢西亚经济来说, 旅客数量太多。

该研究有助于评估COVID-19对航空业和旅游目的地的影响。这两个行业将在中期内重新崛起, 并且在不同地区以不同的速度发展。本研究的贡献对于航空公司、机场和旅游目的地的管理者和经营者来说是非常必要的, 可以让他们在未来做出更好的决策。

Los efectos del COVID-19 en el turismo y sector aéreo andaluz

Este estudio tiene la finalidad de analizar los efectos del COVID-19 en las aerolíneas, aeropuertos y el destino Andalucía. Sobre esta base, el estudio ha valorado la quiebra de algunas aerolíneas, el cierre y reducción de la frecuencia de rutas aéreas, las medidas COVID-19 en los aeropuertos por parte de los gobiernos, etc., con la finalidad de adaptarse a las nuevas circunstancias, ser eficientes y planificar sus recursos según la demanda.

Se realiza una revisión de la literatura relevante sobre el impacto del COVID-19 en la industria de la aviación, los aeropuertos y el sector turístico para comprender el vínculo entre ellos. El artículo comienza explicando los efectos de la pandemia en la industria de la aviación y analiza su impacto en la región de Andalucía. Este estudio utiliza datos secundarios de IATA, AENA, EUROCONTROL, INE, OAG, UNTWO, etc., para respaldar los resultados de la investigación.

Los resultados de los efectos de la pandemia en Andalucía están siendo devastadores y este destino depende en gran medida del turismo. La drástica caída de la frecuencia de vuelos en los aeropuertos durante la pandemia ha provocado un descenso medio del −65% en las llegadas de pasajeros en los seis aeropuertos andaluces hasta octubre de 2020, es decir, 23 millones de pasajeros, demasiados pasajeros para una economía andaluza que depende principalmente del sector turístico.

El estudio contribuye a evaluar los efectos del COVID-19 en el sector aéreo y los destinos turísticos. Ambos sectores resurgirán a medio plazo y a distintas velocidades en diferentes regiones. La contribución de este estudio es fundamental para que los gestores y operadores de aerolíneas, aeropuertos y destinos turísticos tomen mejores decisiones futuras.

Airports are limited in terms of capacity. Particularly, runways can only accommodate a certain number of movements (arrivals and departures) while ensuring safety and determined operational requirements. In such a constrained operating environment, any reduction in system capacity results in major delays with significant costs for airlines and passengers. Therefore, the efficient operation of airports is a critical cornerstone for demand and delay management of the whole air transportation system. Runway scheduling deals with the sequencing of arriving and departing aircraft at airports such that a predefined objective is optimized subject to several operational constraints, like the dependency of separation on the leading and trailing aircraft type or the runway occupancy time. This study aims to develop a model that acts as a tactical runway scheduling methodology for reducing delays while managing runway usage.

By considering real airport performance data with scheduled and actual movements, as well as arrival/departure delays, this study presents a robust model together with an optimization algorithm, which incorporates the knowledge of uncertainty into the tactical operational step. The approach transforms the planning problem into an assignment problem with side constraints. The coupled landing/take-off problem is solved to optimality by exploiting a time-indexed (0, 1) formulation for the problem. The Binary Integer Linear Programming approach allows to include multi-criteria and multi-constraints levels and, even with some major simplifications, provides fewer sequence changes and target time updates, when compared to the usual approach in which the plan is simply updated in case of infeasibility. Thus, the use of robust optimization leads to a protection against tactical uncertainties, reduces delays and achieves more stable operations.

This model has been validated with real data from a large international European airport in different traffic scenarios. Results are compared to the actual sequencing of flights and show that the algorithm can significantly contribute to the reduction of delay, while adhering as much as possible to the operative procedures and constraints, and to the objectives of the airport stakeholders. Computational experiments performed on the case study illustrate the benefits of this arrival/departure integrated approach: the proposed algorithm significantly reduces weighted aircraft delay and computes efficient runway schedule solutions within a few seconds and with little computational effort. It can be adopted as a decision-making tool in the tactical stage. Furthermore, this study presents operational insights regarding demand and delay management based on the results of this work.

Scheduling arrivals and departures at runways is a complex problem that needs to address diverse and often competing considerations among involved flights. In the context of the Airport Collaborative Decision Making programme, airport operators and air navigation service providers require arrival and departure management tools that improve aircraft flows at airports. Airport runway optimization, as the main element that combines airside and groundside operations, is an ongoing challenge for air traffic management.

This study aims to analyze the relationship between Málaga’s airport, air transport, companies and the local economy.

It is a bibliographic study, and it uses secondary data from Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea, Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía, España Exportación e Inversiones, Instituto Nacional de Estadística and International Air Transport Association to support research results. The investigation has reviewed and collected data on the specific paradigm of research which discusses, investigates and evaluates the impact of the Málaga Costa del Sol airport and its regional context.

The results of this study suggest that Málaga Costa del Sol airport promotes an increase of the establishment of companies in the city and how this plays an important role in the tourist, air cargo and logistics development and Málaga local economy. This is a great opportunity for companies and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) help add value to local products, bet on tourist quality and design customized products with high added value, as long as the pandemic lasts, and everyone is vaccinated.

The contribution of this study is double. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study shows for the first time to Málaga Costa del Sol airport such as a multifunctional airfield (tourist-cargo-logistics-accessible) and not only as tourist airport. Second, this study shows the influence of Málaga airport in the establishment of large national and international companies in the city of Málaga and urban development. Furthermore, this paper contributes to the literature by presenting new evidence on the spatial spillover effects of airports on economic development in cities.

This paper aims to investigate the nature of what is referred to as the Knowledge Management Engineering & Maintenance Program, which is based on practices that influence the dissemination of knowledge in a structured and sustained manner within a small-sized airport. The air transport system has undergone important changes, particularly in the development of new knowledge management (KM) approaches. In practice, however, results have been mixed. Some programs have been successful, but implementation failures are common and the intended users are frequently reluctant to use such management structures. A possible explanation for efficiency and effectiveness gaps of services provided by these knowledge structures may relate to the advantages and disadvantages of the knowledge processes that airports highlight as a result of their differential structural properties.

Using data collected from the Engineering & Maintenance Department at a Spanish Airport, this work has examined how the existence of some knowledge structures is linked to knowledge transfer and how this component is linked to customer service (external users, e.g. passengers; and internal users, including any airport staff).

This paper reports a KM program, which is customized and based on four knowledge structures: technical infrastructure; people to facilitate and drive the process; a system that supports and rewards sharing; and the team leader.

Conducting this type of single case study (an interview-based case study approach) is to be understood foremost as a prelude to further quantitative studies including common measures for passengers and users, staff, managers and board members.

In an applied sense, the model provides engineering and maintenance practitioners with identifiable factors, which enable the four frameworks and address the relevant issues by changing strategies at both the individual and the organizational levels. Without a KM program, practitioners may lose the ability to see the market signals stemming from the transport system members and they may decide to go solely by their own ways of doing and interpreting things.

In the aerial transportation area, fuel costs are critical to the economic viability of companies, and so urgent measures should be adopted to avoid any unnecessary increase in operational costs. In particular, this paper addresses the case of missed approach manouevres, showing that it is still possible to optimize the usual procedure.

The costs involved in a standard procedure following a missed approach are analysed through a simulation model, and they are compared with the improvements achieved with a fast reinjection scheme proposed in a prior work.

Experimental results show that, for a standard A320 aircraft, fuel savings ranging from 55% to 90% can be achieved through the reinjection method.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first study in the literature addressing the fuel savings benefits obtained by applying a reinjection technique for missed approach manoeuvres.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse Information Systems outsourcing success, measuring the latter according to the satisfaction level achieved by users and taking into account three success factors: the role played by the client firm’s top management; the relationships between client and provider; and the degree of outsourcing.

A survey was carried out by means of a questionnaire answered by 398 large Spanish firms. Its results were examined using the partial least squares software and through the proposal of a structural equation model.

The conclusions reveal that the perceived benefits play a mediating role in outsourcing satisfaction and also that these benefits can be grouped together into three categories: strategic; economic; and technological ones.

The study identifies how some success factors will be more influent than others depending which type of benefits are ultimately sought with outsourcing.

Data Device Corporation's new digital‐to‐discrete interface claims to provide avionics designers with a flexible means of driving discrete input devices from 8‐or 16‐bit microprocessors and data buses. This function has hitherto been implemented with discrete components and the highly integrated DD‐01616 will save board space and increase reliability.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of switching costs (SwCs) on established firm cost behaviour towards a competitive entry in the Spanish domestic airline market, taking into account the entrant profile and airport capacity restrictions.

The dynamic model is based on information of 193 Spanish domestic routes in which incumbents react to entrants (quarterly data during 10 years, 620 reactions are analysed). The balanced panel used is constructed by setting up a multiple-source database based on accounting and industrial engineering procedures.

Results show that both entrant profile and regulatory constraints conditions incumbent cost reaction (CR) to entry at the route-level. Regression models show that the relationship between SwCs and incumbent reaction is moderated by the entrant profile and the regulatory conditions of the market.

This study reveals the importance of policy measures aimed at reducing firm market power and increasing consumer protection in the airline industry, in which SwCs are artificially created at the company’s discretion and where operating costs at the route-level need to be evaluated together with the various service elements.

This study complements current literature related to incumbent CR to entry in the airline industry since it analyses the specific reaction performed by a carrier at the route-level. Moreover, it analyses the whole set of routes in the Spanish domestic market rather than a selection of it. It also explicitly includes three alternative measures of SwCs that can influence such incumbent reaction.

Esta investigación analiza el papel de los costes de cambio en el comportamiento en costes de las empresas establecidas ante las entradas competitivas en el mercado aéreo nacional español, teniendo en cuenta el perfil de los entrantes y las restricciones de capacidad de los aeropuertos.

El modelo dinámico propuesto se basa en la información de 193 rutas nacionales españolas en las que los implicados reaccionan ante los nuevos entrantes (datos trimestrales durante 10 años, se analizan 620 reacciones). El panel equilibrado utilizado se construye configurando una base de datos de múltiples fuentes basada en procedimientos de contabilidad de costes e ingeniería industrial.

Los resultados muestran que tanto el perfil del entrante como las restricciones a la entrada condicionan la reacción en costes del implicado ante la entrada a nivel de ruta. Los resultados de las regresiones muestran que la relación entre los costes de cambio y la reacción del implicado está moderada tanto por el perfil del entrante como por las condiciones regulatorias del mercado.

Este estudio revela la importancia de las medidas de política destinadas a reducir el poder de mercado de las empresa y a aumentar la protección del consumidor en el sector de las aerolíneas, en las que los costes de cambio se crean artificialmente a discreción de la compañía y donde los costes operativos a nivel de ruta deben evaluarse juntos con diversos elementos de servicio.

Este estudio complementa la literatura actual relacionada con la reacción del implicado ante la entrada en el sector de las aerolíneas, ya que analiza la reacción específica realizada por las compañías a nivel de ruta. Además, analiza de forma exhaustiva el conjunto de rutas en el mercado nacional español en lugar de una muestra de ellas. También, incluye explícitamente tres medidas alternativas de costes de cambio que pueden influir en dicha reacción predominante.