A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Deville, Xavier; Vennix, Saskia Working Paper Economic Importance of Air Transport and Airport Activities in Belgium – Report 2009 NBB Working Paper, No. 218 Provided in Cooperation with: National Bank of Belgium, Brussels Suggested Citation: Deville, Xavier; Vennix, Saskia (2011) : Economic Importance of Air Transport and Airport Activities in Belgium – Report 2009, NBB Working Paper, No. 218, National Bank of Belgium, Brussels This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/144430 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. 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The aim is therefore to provide a platform for discussion. The opinions expressed are strictly those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bank of Belgium. Orders For orders and information on subscriptions and reductions: National Bank of Belgium, Documentation - Publications service, boulevard de Berlaimont 14, 1000 Brussels Tel +32 2 221 20 33 - Fax +32 2 21 30 42 The Working Papers are available on the website of the Bank: http://www.nbb.be © National Bank of Belgium, Brussels All rights reserved. Reproduction for educational and non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that the source is acknowledged. ISSN: 1375-680X (print) ISSN: 1784-2476 (online) NBB WORKING PAPER No. 218 - DECEMBER 2011 ABSTRACT This study assesses the economic importance of air transport and airport activities in Belgium in terms of employment, value added and investment over the period 2007 - 20091. The sector considered embraces not only the activities directly connected with air transport, but also all the activities which take place on site at the six Belgian airports (Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi, Kortrijk, Liège, Ostend). The direct and indirect effects of the sector are estimated respectively on the basis of microeconomic data (mainly obtained from the Central Balance Sheet Office) and macroeconomic data (from the National Accounts Institute). The study also includes an analysis of the social balance sheet and certain ratios on the basis of Central Balance Sheet Office data. In 2009, the air transport sector thus defined generated over € 6.1 billion in direct and indirect value added (or 1.8 % of Belgium’s GDP), and provided direct or indirect employment for 80,300 people in full-time equivalents (or 2 % of domestic employment in FTE). Brussels Airport was the one most affected by the decline in global traffic in 2009, as a result of the economic crisis: in that year it ceased to be Belgium’s principal cargo airport, ceding that position to Liège Airport. However, the national airport still ranks first in the passenger market, accounting for almost three-quarters of traffic in 2010, despite the exponential growth of traffic at Charleroi Airport. Together, these two airports represented almost 97 % of passenger traffic passing through Belgium in 2010. JEL classification: C67, D40, J21, L93, R15, R34 and R41. Keywords: air transport, airport activities, sector analysis, indirect effects, employment, value added, investments 1 This is an update of the study conducted on the basis of 2006 data by Kupfer F. and F. Lagneaux (2009), Economic Importance of Air Transport and Airport Activities in Belgium, NBB, Working Paper No. 158 (Document series), Brussels. NBB WORKING PAPER No. 218 - DECEMBER 2011 Corresponding authors: NBB, Microeconomic Information department, e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] Research results and conclusions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bank of Belgium or any other institution to which the authors are affiliated. All remaining errors are ours. The authors would like to thank their colleagues from the Microeconomic Information department, Marc De Geyter from the NBB Antwerp branch, the airport operating companies and all the companies who responded to the survey. Special thanks go to Messrs Luc Dufresne, secretary general at the NBB, Philippe Quintin, head of department at the NBB, and George van Gastel, head of service at the NBB for their support and their comments on this paper. The advice given unstintingly by the Research, National Accounts and Statistics departments was also greatly appreciated. NBB WORKING PAPER No. 218 - DECEMBER 2011 CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 2 AIM AND GENERAL METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 2 INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND SECTORAL CONTEXT ................................................................................................ 3 1 ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE BELGIAN AIR TRANSPORT SECTOR AS A WHOLE ............................ 7 1.1 PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRAFFIC .............................................................................................................. 7 1.1.1 Passengers: Recent Developments ............................................................................................. 7 1.1.2 Cargo: Recent Developments ................................................................................................... 10 1.2 VALUE ADDED ...................................................................................................................................... 13 1.3 EMPLOYMENT ....................................................................................................................................... 16 1.4 INVESTMENT ........................................................................................................................................ 19 1.5 SOCIAL BALANCE SHEET .......................................................................................................................... 22 1.5.1 Working Time and Labour Costs ............................................................................................... 22 1.5.2 Structure of the Workforce ....................................................................................................... 23 1.5.3 External Staff ............................................................................................................................ 24 1.5.4 Staff Turnover ........................................................................................................................... 24 1.5.5 Training .................................................................................................................................... 25 1.6 FINANCIAL RATIOS ................................................................................................................................. 27 2 ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF AIRPORT ACTIVITIES IN BELGIUM ........................................................30 2.1 OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................................... 30 2.1.1 Value Added ............................................................................................................................. 30 2.1.2 Employment.............................................................................................................................. 32 2.2 DETAIL BY AIRPORT ................................................................................................................................ 36 2.2.1 Antwerp Airport ........................................................................................................................ 36 2.2.2 Brussels Airport........................................................................................................................