report

The economic and social impacts of European airports and air connectivity

Results

Airports facilitate (inter)national accessibility. This has positive impacts on the economy, but also causes negative impacts on the climate and local communities. Sustainable development of aviation requires careful consideration of the positive and negative impacts. This study quantifies the positive and negative impacts of European aviation. Different methodologies are combined for this purpose:

  • Gross economic contribution: European aviation contributed approximately €505 billion to the European economy in 2019 and supported 8.1 million jobs. This means that aviation was responsible for 2.8% of GDP and 3.6% of employment in the European Economic Area (EEA);
  • Net economic impact: A 10% increase in the number of flights was associated with a 0.47% increase in GDP and a 1.6% increase in employment in the regions surrounding European airports between 2004 and 2019;
  • Wider social impact: Aviation contributes positively to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but at the same time has a negative impact on the climate and on local communities. Flights departing from European airports were responsible for 211 Mt of CO2 emissions in 2019. By emitting NOx and causing contrails, the overall climate impacts are a factor 3 higher. In addition, flights contributed to local air pollution. European aviation accounted for around 21% of global aviation emissions of PM, SOx, VOC, HC, NOx and CO in 2019. Noise nuisance varies widely between European airports and does not appear to be highly dependent on the number of flights. This suggests that other factors, such as the location and use of runways, have more of an impact on nuisance.

Background

ACI Europe commissioned SEO Amsterdam Economics and Beelining to quantify the economic and social impacts of European airports and the connectivity they facilitate. The study provides a comprehensive and empirically validated analysis as input for future policy discussions and further research regarding the policy challenges ahead for the European aviation sector.

Methodology

The gross economic contribution was determined with a traditional input-output analysis based on survey data and publicly available socio-economic data for European regions. The net economic impacts were determined using advanced econometric (regression) modelling. The broader social impacts were determined by assessing the relationship between air connectivity and indicators related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The impacts on the climate and local air pollution were quantified with Beelining’s FLAPS.25 emission model.

Cover_The_economic_and_social_impact_of_European_airports

Colophon

Client: ACI Europe

In cooperation with: SEO Amsterdam Economics

Author(s): Martin Adler, Antonia Petrat, Arnout Jongeling, Marion Kieffer, Gerben de Jong, Christiaan Behrens, Rogier Lieshout

Type: Research report

Date: October 2024

Files

more information?

Contact

Curious about what Beelining can do for you? We look forward to hearing from you.

Contact details

info@beelining.nl

+31 (0)6 2823 7401

www.beelining.nl

KvK: 83803157

BTW: NL003875598 B18

Contact form

recent

Publications

Study on the economic and wider social impacts of European airports and the connectivity they facilitate.

Development of a methodology with associated spending figures to more accurately estimate the spending impacts of air travelers.

Study on the contribution of leisure passengers to Dutch welfare and the Schiphol network.

Study on the societal impacts of reduced flight activity at Schiphol in the context of a new nature permit.

Blog post on how the Russian flight ban may affect European airlines and passengers.

This ESB article describes how the aviation industry has recovered from the pandemic since early 2020 and looks ahead to the future.