Regional Airports

This book covers optimization tools for evaluating the existing air transportation system and for siting new airports. Regional airports have become increasingly important elements of the air transportation system, both as feeders of hub-and-spoke services and as origins or destinations of point-to-point services. Congestion at the main hubs and increasing demand for air transportation for both passengers and freight necessitates reevaluation of the overall air systems, with regional airports taking an ever-expanding role. Optimization of air transportation systems within the framework of other forms of transportation plays an important part in the present quest for sustainability. Nowadays congestion is seen not only in countries such as the USA and those in the EU, but also in a variety of other countries with fast-developing economies and a strong increase in air transportation demand. The reevaluation of the existing airport system, including regional airports, requires the development of new optimization tools that can simulate the whole process and produce optimal solutions. These models are also essential to predict future demands and, in particular, the role that regional airports will play. The siting of new airports involves taking into consideration a variety of environmental, ecological, social and economic factors that transcend the problem of optimizing transportation resources. Regional airports can be a powerful driving force behind the development of an area and conversely can result in major problems if they are wrongly sited.