Airport privatisation: A successful journey?

It is now over 30 years since the first airport privatisation occurred with BAA in the UK in 1987. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess the impacts of this development and evaluate its effectiveness, using examples from all over the world. It begins by considering some key issues such as the extent of government involvement; the selection of operator/investor; the choice of network/group versus individual operations; and the relevance of economic regulation. This then leads on to an investigation of measures of success, particularly in relation to efficiency and service quality. Reflecting on the privatisation journey, the paper defines key changes that have occurred concerning how privatisation is considered now compared to its early days in terms of motivation, geographical reach and type of model, investor and sale. It also highlights the importance of the regulatory and competitive environment and briefly considers the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.