Europeans Say Airport Vital to Economic Development

European airports play a key role in boosting regional accessibility and economic expansion according to data released today.

They also drive tourism development and serve as national and regional economic motors, according to a report entitled 'the social and economic impact of airports in Europe.'

Key findings from the study include that total on-site employment at European airports was around 1.2m in 2001 creating some 950 on-site jobs per million passengers per annum. For every on-site job, another 2.1 jobs are created indirectly or through induced effects in national economies.

Access to markets and external and international transport links are regarded as absolutely essential to enterprises making location decisions.

Regional airports are equally important to their local and national economies while failure to provide increases in airport capacity could cost between 2.5% and 3% of national or regional Gross Domestic Product respectively.

For the European Union as a whole, tourism accounts for 5% of total employment and Gross Domestic Product. The advent of low-cost carrier services is also accelerating the development of tourism in many places.

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