Gridlock on the Ground: How Airlines Can Respond to Airport Congestion
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Gridlock on the ground: How airlines can respond to airport congestion Travel, Transport & Logistics August 2015 Jaap Bouwer Dominic Maxwell Steve Saxon Gridlock on the ground: How airlines can respond to airport congestion Even as they expand their operations, many major Five trends at congested airports airports around the world are operating at or beyond Passenger growth flattens and the city loses overall capacity. Jakarta’s Soekarno–Hatta International Our first finding won’t necessarily come as a Airport, which was designed to accommodate surprise; as airports approach maximum capacity, 22 million passengers a year, handled more than passenger growth stalls. The number of passengers 52 million in 2013; in 2014, Guangzhou Baiyun traveling through Heathrow has grown at less than International Airport in Guangzhou, China, 1 percent on average per year since 2000; during operated at nearly 20 percent above capacity. Other that same period, London’s other airports grew at major airports—in cities such as São Paolo and Hong nearly twice that rate. More surprising is the way in Kong—come close to saturation during peak travel which Heathrow’s limitations affected neighboring periods and show no signs of slowing down. airports. GDP—which is closely correlated with airline-traffic growth—indicates that Heathrow Most airline executives know that congestion is should have handled nearly 15 million more a growing trend and have a general sense of what passengers than it did in 2013. It would be logical to expect when a hub or home airport begins to assume those passengers, squeezed out of approaching maximum capacity. For instance, they Heathrow, would have simply turned to nearby might rightly suspect that on-time performance airports. But London’s other airports captured drops as airports become constrained. And they may only about half of Heathrow’s overflow2 (Exhibit 1). have a hunch that aircraft become harder to schedule In short, Heathrow’s constraints hurt the city and utilize. But beyond executives’ intuition and of London more broadly. But London’s loss is anecdotal experience, there is little information that continental Europe’s gain: hubs like Frankfurt and can help airlines understand the impact of an airport Amsterdam picked up some of the business travelers becoming constrained, or how they should respond. who would have otherwise flown via Heathrow. Most important, there is little consensus around an Research suggests the impact of congestion goes essential question: Is a congested hub airport good even further. In a 2013 report, the UK Airports or bad for home airlines? Commission suggested that failing to alleviate capacity constraints at the nation’s airports could To begin to answer these questions, we looked cost users and providers of airport infrastructure closely at trends from some of the world’s most up to £20 billion over the next 60 years, and that constrained airports: Beijing Capital International costs to the economy more broadly could reach Airport, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and London £45 billion. The group’s 2015 report suggests that Heathrow Airport.1 We reviewed both runway costs to the broader economy could be even higher.3 and terminal capacity, where data were available. We then analyzed the ways in which passenger As is the case at Heathrow, growth is falling short numbers, aircraft types, ticket prices, and flight of predictions at other constrained airports, too. At routes have shifted at those airports over time, Beijing Capital International Airport, where both and compared those shifts with the patterns seen runway and terminal handling capacity were maxed at similarly large but unconstrained airports out in 2012, growth was just 2.5 percent a year from throughout the world. We identified five trends— 2012 to 2014, significantly lower than the 7.9 percent some of which are straightforward and intuitive, that would have been expected based on GDP.4 And the and others that are more complex—that can spillover effect we identified in London is happening help airlines better understand what happens as elsewhere too; every day, more than 80 shuttle buses airports begin to approach maximum capacity carry passengers between Hong Kong and the less and in turn plan their response. congested Shenzhen airport in mainland China. 2 CDP 2015 Airport congestion Exhibit 1 of 2 Exhibit 1 When an airport is constrained, nearby airports don't always capture the entire overflow. Expected versus actual passenger growth rate, 1980–2013, CAGR,1 % Heathrow Other London airports2 All London airports Expected2 3.8 4.8 4.2 Actual 2.9 5.3 3.8 Total gain 15 million 8 million 7 million or loss in loss gain loss passengers, 2013 1Compound annual growth rate. 2City, Gatwick, Luton, and Stansted. Source: IHS Global Insight; UK Civil Aviation Authority Aircraft get bigger routes in favor of routes with high point-to- As airports get busier, there is a gradual but point demand, which are more profitable. noticeable shift toward wide-body aircraft. Airlines operating out of congested airports Such “upgauging” is to be expected—larger planes tend to increase the frequency of flights can carry more passengers more efficiently. As on existing routes, rather than offer new congestion increases, many airlines start using destinations. Between 2002 and 2014, bigger planes on short-haul flights.5 In 2002, many large, unconstrained airports in and nearly half of short-haul seat capacity at Beijing around Europe expanded their networks; Capital International Airport was carried on wide- Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris added body aircraft. Wide-body usage fell significantly approximately 30 new cities to its short- through 2010, as demand picked up for travel haul destination list during this time, and to secondary Chinese cities. But by 2012, a year Istanbul Ataturk Airport added more than 60. after the airport became saturated, a new trend Airlines at Heathrow, however, actually began. Wide-body use rose again as carriers were reduced the number of short-haul destinations forced to upgauge in order to handle the increased they serve but increased the frequency of volume (Exhibit 2). This trend holds in other flights to those cities. In short, as airports constrained airports as well. At Tokyo Haneda get busier, they offer more flights to fewer airport, 67 percent of short-haul seat capacity cities; unconstrained airports serve more is carried on wide-body aircraft. Tokyo is an cities, less frequently. This pattern is similar especially pronounced example of this trend, for longer flights. but other constrained airports are also seeing gradual upgauging. Ticket prices rise Seats on direct flights to and from congested Network connectivity decreases airports are at a premium. Demand outstrips Evidence suggests that as an airport gets more supply, which means airlines sometimes increase constrained, airlines drop connection-heavy prices to focus on premium traffic. British 3 CDP 2015 Airport congestion Exhibit 2 of 2 Exhibit 2 As Beijing’s airport reached capacity, airlines began using bigger planes for shorter flights. Outbound seats on short-haul flights1 from Beijing Capital International Airport, % Wide body Narrow body2 100% 27 26 27 32 28 29 31 32 30 28 29 36 45 74 73 72 71 69 68 70 73 72 71 64 68 55 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Widebody usage falls as demand for Airport announces its capacity has flights to secondary Chinese cities “gradually become saturated,” and wide- begins to increase body usage begins to increase again 1Short-haul flights are assumed to be those with average stage length of less than 2,400 kilometers. 2Includes regional aircraft, whose share was ~0.1% of seats in 2014. Source: OAG Airways, which operates the vast majority of Slot trading becomes more important (and its flights into and out of Heathrow,6 increased more profitable) revenue per available seat kilometer (RASK) Slot trading starts when an airport’s real estate by roughly 4 percent per year from 2005 to 2013; and resources become scarcer. Although others RASK growth for most European airlines was will likely follow suit, today only Heathrow has a relatively flat during that same period. In 2012, well-developed market in slots. And it’s growing. the average price of a direct flight to or from In 2000, airlines traded among themselves just Heathrow was more than three times that of 42 weekly slots at Heathrow; in 2012, that number nearby Gatwick. Factors such as Heathrow’s was upward of 500. Several recent deals were worth high proportion of long-haul destinations and more than $20 million; in 2015, Scandinavian business-class customers play a part in higher Airlines received $60 million for an attractively prices. But even controlling for these factors, timed slot pair. Slot trading allows carriers based the fare premium remains intact; for flights at constrained airports to increase their activity. into Heathrow, that premium can be up to British Airways, for example, which held just over 80 percent higher. 35 percent of Heathrow’s summer slots in 2001, 4 increased that to more than half by 2014—almost they are pricing their tickets appropriately, given entirely through active slot trading and acquisition demand. And then there’s slot trading. Long silent of other carriers. There is anecdotal evidence of a on the practice, the European Commission is widely rise in trading at other constrained hubs in Europe; expected to formally endorse slot trading as a this practice will likely become increasingly mechanism to optimize capacity. If and when it formalized in the years ahead. does, it will give airlines in constrained hubs a valuable and tradable asset. What it means for airlines Is a congested home airport a good thing for Finally, airlines need to develop a position, both airlines? The answer is yes, at least in the short internally and publicly, on airport expansion.