Maastricht Aachen Airport – Value creation and political influence

MASTER DEGREE PROJECT

THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration

NUMBER OF CREDITS: 30 ECTS

PROGRAMME OF STUDY: ILSCM

AUTHORS: René Paaß, Gijs Heldens

JÖNKÖPING May 2020

Maastricht

Aachen Airport:

Value creation and political influence

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Master Thesis in Business Administration

Title: Maastricht Aachen Airport – Value creation and political influence Authors: René Paaß and Gijs Heldens

Tutor: Tommaso Minola

Date: 2020-05-17

Key terms: Maastricht Aachen Airport, Aviation industry, Politics, Stakeholder influence, Value creation, Regional airport

Abstract

Background: The debate about the existence of Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) has

received great media presence in the past years. The subject involves many stakeholders from various perspectives, while focusing on the politicians of Limburg and the government of the region representing the sole shareholder of the airport.

Purpose: The limited availability of neutral data regarding MAA created the urge for an

unbiased research. The purpose of the research is to generate a political oriented overview of perceptions and values related to MAA that aids in determining the airport’s future by including various stakeholders of the region.

Method: A deductive approach has been chosen in order to execute the research, whilst

focusing on Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory as a foundation. Qualitative semi-structured interviews have been conducted with seven politicians from six different political parties of the government of Limburg. Furthermore, the director of MAA has been interviewed, as well as a great number of inhabitants. These stakeholders have been identified due to their influential- and voting power with regards to the research purpose.

Conclusion: MAA is a regional airport with national significance, which adds value through

its cargo handling. As other airports are reaching their maximum capacity in the Netherlands, there is an enhanced prospective for MAA in the future on the field of cargo. Its passenger flight value is limited due to the number of alternative airports in its direct vicinity. The current strategy of MAA depends on political decisions related to campaign promises rather than neutral qualitative and quantitative research. A complete Social Cost and Benefit Analysis would create a well-structured view on the existence of the airport and would aid in determining the position of the national government with regards to potential financial support and decision influence.

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Table of Contents

2.3.1 Infrastructure and Accessibility 12

2.3.2 Socioeconomic 13 2.4 Airport Strategy 13 2.5 Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory 14 2.6 Airport Stakeholders 16 2.6.1 Government 16 2.6.2 Inhabitants 17 2.6.3 Local companies 18 2.6.4 Airlines 19 2.6.5 Airport employees 20 2.6.6 Competitors 21 2.6.7 Passengers 22 2.7 Theoretical Framework 23 3. Research Methodology 25 3.1 Research philosophy 25 3.2 Research approach 25 3.3 Data collection method 26 3.3.1 Secondary data 26 3.3.2 Primary data 27 3.4 Sample selection 28 3.5 Research ethics 29 3.6 Analyses of data 30 4 Empirical Findings 32 4.1 Politicians 32

4.1.1 Political parties’ view on MAA 32

4.1.2 Provincial aid for MAA 33

4.1.3 MAA’s Financial Prospect 34

4.1.4 Hypothetical Scenario 35

4.1.5 Infrastructure and Accessibility 36

4.1.6 Perception of MAA 36

4.1.7 Comparison to other airports 38

4.1.8 Additional Government Measures 39

4.1.9 Political Party Overview 40

4.2 Director of MAA 41

4.2.1 Government Influence 41

4.2.2 Financial Stability of MAA 41

4.2.3 Passenger and Cargo Expectations 42

4.2.4 Privatization 42

iii 4.2.6 Stakeholder Communication 43 4.2.7 Visualization Summary 44 4.3 Local Community 44 4.3.1 Perception of MAA 44 4.3.2 Nearby Airports 45 4.3.3 Nuisance 45

4.3.4 Future Scenarios of MAA 46

4.3.5 Reputation of Local Authorities 46

4.3.6 Key Perceptions about MAA 47

5. Analysis 48

5.1 Subject Impact 48

5.2 Aviation industry growth 48

5.3 MAA’s Dimension 49

5.4 Value Creation of MAA 50

5.4.1 Infrastructure and Accessibility 50

5.4.2 Socioeconomic Values 51 5.5 Political Influence 51 5.6 Potential Future Scenarios 52 6. Conclusion 54 7. Discussion 55 7.1 Practical Implications 55 7.2 Theoretical Implications 56 7.3 Limitations 57 7.4 Further Research 58 Bibliography 59 Appendices 63 Appendix A: Interview Questions Layout 63 Appendix B: Interviewees Politicians 65 Appendix C: GDPR Thesis Study Consent Form 66 Figures

Figure 1: The Original Stakeholder Model by Freeman (1984) 15

Figure 2: Stakeholder Model - Adapted Version of Freeman (2003) 15

Figure 3: Adapted Theoretical Framework Model 23

Figure 4: Theoretical Implication Framework 56

Tables Table 1: Political Parties Overview 40

Table 2: Director Summary 44

Table 3: Inhabitants Quotes 47

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Glossary and Abbreviations MAA: Maastricht Aachen Airport

MHAL region: Maastricht/Heerlen, Hasselt/Genk, Aachen and Liège LCCs: Low-cost-carriers

SCBA: Social Cost and Benefit Analysis

VVD: People’s party for Freedom and Democracy GroenLinks: GreenLeft party

SP: Socialist Party 50Plus: 50Plus party PvdA: Labour Party PVV: Freedom Party

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1. Introduction

This chapter aids the reader to understand the background of Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA), along with small and regional airports in general. Based on the background information, the purpose of the thesis, as well as the research questions, will be presented later on in the chapter. The thesis will focus on answering these research questions in a broad and academic perspective.

1.1 Background

Small airports have a great significance these days due to several factors and changes in the aviation industry. The tremendous growth of low-cost airlines has driven the development of secondary and regional airport terminals (De Neufville, 2008). Apart from that, the aviation industry in general has grown significantly over the past decades (Kupfer et al., 2016). Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) is an example of a regional airport and represents the primary role in this research. The aerodrome is located near Maastricht in the municipality of Beek, which is part of Limburg, the most southern province of the Netherlands. Lately, MAA has been a political issue in the Netherlands, partly due to noise complaints from people who live near the airport. Furthermore, regulations related to the runway and number of flights, which the airport is allowed to handle, have created a point of debate. Political interference also added up to the controversial continuity of the regional airport as well as its strategy, due to the financial involvement of the province.

The strategy of the point-to-point model rather than the hub-and-spoke model has influenced the development of regional airports in general (Fu et al., 2019). Due to the tremendous size of the aviation industry, it has become possible for people to fly directly from regional airports to their final destination, rather than having to fly between hubs. This phenomenon is the most recognized explanation of Boeing's success with their Dreamliner and Airbus’ failure in terms of the Airbus A380 (Reed, 2019). Airbus predicted the market to develop in accordance with people's desire of flying from hub to hub, while Boeing pursued to invest into the development of the point to point model. The investment arose, despite their major success with the Boeing 747 jumbo jet in the past, which served the hub-and-spoke model. The correct prediction of Boeing by developing mainly smaller planes able to fly long distances, aids in the existence of regional airports in general.

2 Recently, MAA has been in the news in the Netherlands various times, since it is part of the aforementioned political issues. In 2014, the province of Limburg acquired the shares of MAA from the British private owner Omniport for a symbolic price of 1 Euro (Zakenreisnieuws, 2014). Earlier in the same year, the province prevented the airport from going bankrupt by aiding them with a financial injection of 4.5 Million Euros (Witteman, 2013). The interference of the province with the airport is a major point of discussion, as it raises the question of whether it is required by the province to keep an airport operating, with the local taxpayer’s money, rather than having the free market go its natural way. If the province had not aided the airfield, it would have most likely ceased to exist, due to bankruptcy. Hence, stating the fact that the province of Limburg and its political parties in charge are the major stakeholder force in terms of influencing MAA not only on its strategy, however, on its entire interpretation and future orientation.

Last year (in 2019) MAA moved 450,000 passengers, which is a growth of 60% compared to 2018. During 2018, MAA had a passenger outbound of only 275,000 travelers (Geussens, 2020). The amount of transported cargo in 2019 was 111,000 tons, which is similar to the amount of 2018. The cargo situation at MAA has a significant connection to the situation at Schiphol, Netherlands’ biggest airport. If there are no slots available at the airport, companies often switch during busy times or decide to move their operations (partly) to MAA or other regional Dutch airports (RTV-Maastricht, 2018). An arising phenomenon, due to the fact that Schiphol is leaning towards their maximum number of flights, forcing airlines to investigate alternatives nearby, such as MAA. Consequently, increasing the value creation of regional airports, not only for its own area, nevertheless, improving critical circumstances throughout the country.

In practice, most regional airports are not profitable. In fact, 70% of all airports throughout the world lose money (Airport-World-Magazine, 2013). Small airports are required to invest a huge amount of money, before they are even prepared to operate. After having invested the required amount of money, the demand depends highly on the airlines, providing them with a strong negotiating position (Huderek-Glapska & Nowak, 2016). Low-budget carriers often use this as a trump card in their negotiation position, in order to receive discounts on landing rights and utilizing necessary facilities of the airport. If an airline decides to switch from one airport to another, the financial consequences could be devastating for the corresponding airport. Especially in less densely populated areas, such as the one Maastricht

3 is located in. It can be a challenge to operate an airport in a profitable approach, with regards to potential terrible negotiation positions. In the case of MAA, there is an additional barrier that results from its location and the fact that there are many other airports nearby: Brussels, Charleroi, Liège, Köln/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Weeze and Eindhoven airport. Another difficult aspect for MAA results from the fact that Liège (located only 40 km away from MAA) is open 24 hours per day and is allowed to handle cargo flights during the night. The airport of Liège has seen a major development ever since its focus shifted towards cargo aviation and increases to grow its total amount of tons transported each year (Orban, 2019). MAA does not have the option to execute flights during night time, in order to prevent nuisance for local residents. This harms the competitive position of MAA compared to other local providers. Furthermore, MAA’s runway covers 2750 meters, of which only 2500 meters can be used due to nuisance policies. In comparison to Lièges’ 3700-meter runway, this is a significant disadvantage, as a higher variety of planes are able to take off and land at this airport.

Since MAA and Liège airport are located so close to each other, a merger has been discussed in the past. In fact, the winner of the 1988-1989’s regional design competition of the MHAL region (Maastricht/Heerlen, Hasselt/Genk, Aachen and Liège) caused controversy at the time, by suggesting that MAA should merge with Liège airport at a location near Liège (Kempenaar et al., 2019). The main point of criticism arose from the Dutch province of Limburg, who demanded to operate the airport on Dutch territory, rather than only operating an option abroad. MAA is not considered as just an airfield in the region by some of the local politicians, but also as something that adds to the status of the region of Maastricht. Among some inhabitants of Maastricht, MAA is considered as a landmark (Brouwers, 2019). Having an airport near their habitat amplifies the connection and the pride of the region.

The relevance of the topic is significant, since there has been a huge growth of small regional airports throughout Europe, with budget airlines such as Ryanair operating for cheap prices. Mainly in Europe, airports used to be or still partly are military airports and have been undergoing a transformation in order to handle passengers that want to fly to other places (Cidell, 2003).

4 The existence of MAA has been and still is a major point of political discussion. The provincial government of Limburg has decided, after pressure from the opposition of the parliament of Limburg, to execute a Social Cost and Benefit Analysis (SCBA). The opposition also wanted that potential closure of the airport would be investigated but provincial executive Joost van den Akker from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has stated that only three scenarios for the future of MAA will be investigated. "One scenario is based on the airport's current growth rate and another on greater and optimal growth. The third scenario examines the variant in which there is less growth and the nuisance is limited as much as possible", according to the delegate Joost van den Akker (van Hoof, 2019). The provincial authorities have made the conscious choice not to investigate a possible closure of the airport, as it is not considered as a serious option. The argumentation provided amplifies that the airport is performing well and therefor there is no reason to research a potential closure of the airport.

As mentioned already, MAA is surrounded by other airports that are located in the Netherlands but also in Germany and Belgium since it is located so close to the border with these two countries. In the beginning of 2020, the national government started a debate about introducing air freight tax in the Netherlands. If this form of tax would actually be introduced, it would endanger the existence of MAA drastically since freight flights would likely move to other nearby airports that are just across the border where there are no strict freight taxes applied. This would endanger the jobs of more than 3,000 people that have a job at the airport or related to the airport of Maastricht (van Hoof, 2020). The provincial government of Limburg has contacted the national government about the disastrous effects a freight tax would have on MAA. The provincial government wrote that the 'current earnings model of the airport is at stake and that the jobs of thousands of employees are threatened' (van Hoof, 2020).

1.2 Purpose

As mentioned before, the current status of MAA involves a long history of political intervention. Judging from the recent development in politics, a majority of the politicians of the province of Limburg have the aspiration to keep the airport existing. However, it is important to attain an overview of the opinion of all the involved stakeholders. The diversity and complexity of airport stakeholders and their impact on, as well as from MAA, leads to

5 the emergence of an independent research, which presents different perspectives and indications of motives, for each group of stakeholders. This provides a beneficial structure for the politicians of the province of Limburg as well as local companies and involved inhabitants to comprehend the future orientation of the airport and its value for the region. Current publications and news articles are mainly one-sided, indicating the need to provide an insight into the perspective of various politicians and their connection to varying political orientations.

The ongoing project of MAA stems from a lack of academic research in terms of stakeholder involvement as well as the value of the airport for the region. Thus, creating the drive of this thesis to collect primary data from involved stakeholder groups to elaborate their position within the context of value creation as well as stakeholder influence. Especially the focus on the political involvement as a directive force in the perspective of financial supporter as well as their influence on other stakeholders will be analyzed. A non-financial focus aids in creating a value proposition of the airport, rather than analyzing MAA solely on its fiscal report. This would create a fair overview of the current situation and could potentially raise new arguments from the stakeholder groups that have not been mentioned in previous articles or statements published, regarding this matter. These new arguments could then be used in the political debates about the strategic position of MAA and their use of the local airfield. The primary research conducted by the researchers will provide clarity about the whole subject and more importantly, indicate all the sides in an unbiased perception. Another advantage of conducting unbiased primary research is that it is based on applying theoretical knowledge, rather than being practically involved. The literature review and theoretical model that will be presented in chapter 2 of this paper will aid to create a structured research that converts the whole situation into a broader perspective. Including information about regional airports, in general, as well as other trends in the aviation industry, the bigger picture can be sketched. All the primary and secondary theoretical data, will eventually aid to create rational arguments, rather than prejudiced arguments by inhabitants, parties or companies who have self-interest in the issue of MAA. Taken into consideration the aforementioned information, the following thesis purpose has been identified:

To generate a political oriented overview of perceptions and values related to Maastricht Aachen Airport that aids in determining the airport’s future by including various stakeholders of the MHAL region.

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1.3 Research Problem

The amount and the use of regional airports is growing nowadays, nevertheless, several struggle to be profitable. Given the situation of many small airports close to one another in a less densely populated area, creates a recipe for disaster. Though, this might be the case for MAA and their neighboring airports, it is thus not surprising that the local province is and has been financially aiding this particular airport.

The province of Limburg, with a reference to the majority of political seats, considers an airport as a valuable asset to the local area and thus have the aspiration to keep supporting the airport. Private investors have lost interest in the airport due to financial instability and other critical factors such as nuisance policies, on which they have little to no influence. Since March 2019, MAA is not allowed to use the complete length of the runway anymore, due to policies protecting the local residents. Other aforementioned disadvantages of MAA compared to their local competitors result in complications for the airport to operate as they command.

Ever since the acquisition of the province, the airport has been growing significantly. Nowadays, it is an important airport for Corendon Airlines as well as Europe’s most famous budget airline Ryanair, executing passenger flights from MAA. The influence of low-budget airlines is seen as a critical factor for small airlines. The relationship between regional airports and low-budget airlines has been difficult in recent years, due to unbalanced bargain positions during negotiations (Zuidberg, 2017). Therefore, smaller airports are required to seek other income streams, to strengthen their bargain power and their dependability of low budget airlines such as Ryanair. The cargo sector has the potential to aid in the aforementioned issue, and requires further research in order to reflect it to the case of MAA. As mentioned earlier, most airports are not profitable. Thus it creates the concern, whether the involvement of the local province in aiding the airport can be negatively perceived by the taxpayers of Limburg. MAA is a good example, indicating recent problems of regional airports, while dealing with regulations and politics created by the diversity of stakeholders involved, as well as their influence on the airport.

7 Political focus is one of the key elements of the research problem, due to the fact that political parties exert influence on issues in dissimilar ways, leading to various perceptions on, and interpretations of the strategy of MAA.

1.4 Research Question

Based on the previously mentioned information regarding MAA, two research questions have been formulated covering the essential research focus. First of all, it is crucial to analyze the airport based upon its value for the region. This in fact emerges from the diversity of perceptions regarding the airport and aims to clarify whether the financial support executed by the province creates a base for criticism. The importance of a bigger picture, rather than a narrowed sensitivity generated by nuisance complains and related information streams, aids in evaluating the value of MAA for all involved parties. Another key focus, in terms of stakeholder influence, arises from the diversity and complexity involved in regional airports. The impact of MAA on the social and business level, determines a certain variety of stakeholders within the context of influential powers. Especially the focus of local provincial influence, executed by leading politicians on regional airports is yet to be analyzed, which is determined as a critical factor in times of increasing financial support for the aviation industry. Lastly, taken into account the consideration for the future orientation of MAA, which is determined by local authorities, elected by the general public of Limburg, the following research questions have been formulated:

1. How does Maastricht Aachen airport add value to its own and nearby areas?

2. To what extent does stakeholder influence, emphasizing on political orientation, affect the strategy of Maastricht Aachen airport?

The first research question aims to generate an understanding of the most critical factors motivating the thesis e.g. the value creation aspect of MAA for the region and correlating involved stakeholders. Following, the second research question adds on to the value creation of MAA whilst focusing on the influence that each stakeholder group has on the strategy of the airport. Due to the fact that the government is the main shareholder of the airport and thus in power to decide the interpretation of the airport as well as its operations capacity, a special focus of the research will be based on political influence. The structure generates a

8 continuous flow, establishing information based on the former mentioned research question, in order to critically evaluate the circumstances affecting MAA.

The expected value generated by the research questions intents to clarify different insights concerning MAA with a neutral approach, which is not solitary financially driven. The feasibility is closely linked to its current impact, providing the research with several sources presently affected by or strongly linked to the airport and its nearby area.

1.5 Delimitations

The research is focused on gathering data and arguments from different stakeholder as defined by Freeman, which will be presented in Chapter 2. The researchers believe that the outline of Freeman’s stakeholder theory would be the best method to collect valuable data and to create a fair overview of the current situation of MAA. Based on the history and the lack of research about the aerodrome in question, there is a high variety of problems that could be investigated. The researchers, however, have decided to focus specifically on the stakeholders in combination with the added value of the airport to the close and nearby region. The history of the airport and potential critical financial strives by the management or the politics will be of a lesser importance as this paper will be focused on contemporary added value with a focus on the future orientation. Furthermore, it aims to close the academic gap of regional airport value creation in terms of diversified political emphases, that greatly influence not only MAA and their operations, moreover, the whole interpretation of MAA`s strategy.

The researchers have chosen to define the population of the research according to the Dutch Limburgian people living around the airport of MAA. One could argue that the people who live nearby in Germany and/or Belgium should also be included in the population since they are also affected by the airport’s routes, approaches and holds. Nevertheless, it is decided that for the significance of the research, the airport is a national and regional problem of the Netherlands. The research that shall be conducted will thus mainly be focused on Limburgian politicians, companies and residents. Despite national- and EU politics involvement in terms of basic restrictions and regulations for the aviation sector, the focus will be within the range of the province and its corresponding political system. This will ensure that the academic

9 value is focused upon regional involvement, rather than in a broad spectrum for international larger hubs.

Rather than interviewing as many politicians, residents and companies as possible; the qualitative research will focus on gathering a variety of data. For the researchers it is of great importance to interview central, left- and right wing politicians, due to their diversity in perceptions of complications correlating to MAA. Furthermore, the research aims to contact residents and companies with a variety of views, rather than a high number of companies and residents that might share a similar view based on media focused biased perceptions. Variety is considered in the context of higher importance than quantity.

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2. Literature Review

The purpose of this chapter is to generate an overview of the existing literature about the beforehand mentioned focus of this master thesis. First, the aviation industry in Europe with a general emphasis on regional airports will be reviewed. Secondly an in-depth analysis of regional airports’ value creation in terms of infrastructure and accessibility, socioeconomics, will be provided. Following, with reference to Freeman’s stakeholder theory, all involved stakeholders are analyzed in accordance to their role and power influence for regional airports and their value creation characteristics. Lastly, Freeman’s stakeholder theory will be examined adding to understand the fundamental principal of this thesis.

2.1 Regional aviation development in Europe

It is commonly noted that the aviation industry and in general smaller airports play a significant role in the development of regional accessibility (Beifert, 2016a; Florida et al., 2015; Halpern & Brathen, 2011). The benefits of cargo possibilities and connectivity within countries as well as throughout Europe were leading attributes that added to an increasing number of regional airports in the past. Nevertheless, since the deregulation in the intra-European air transport market in 1997, the aviation sector is characterized by increased competition and aggressive pricing strategies (Lieshout et al., 2016) Especially regional airports in Europe are facing structural and operational challenges (Beifert, 2016a), contributing to a constantly increasing number of financial unstable airports, unable to reach an economical break-even point (ATG, 2002). Another key player in the development of competitive pricing strategies, responsible for heavily influencing the aviation market, can be linked to the enormous market gains by LCCs (Forsyth, 2007). The influence of LCCs on small and regional airports has grown significantly in recent years, as well as their potential to rapidly accelerate the air traffic of a given country (Huderek-Glapska & Nowak, 2016). LCCs strategies focuses upon flying from- and to less convenient airports that can be classified as secondary airports (Lawton, 2002), with cheaper adequate flight slots, in order to achieve the most convenient price for their end consumer. This demonstrates that the development and financial challenges for regional airports is closely linked to the bargaining power executed by LCCs (Huderek-Glapska & Nowak, 2016). Another important step in the aviation industry in Europe, with a focus on small airports, can be generalized as to the transparent and competitive pricing focus due to technological advancements. This in fact, provides the customers with a broader variety of possible flights and thus enhances competition among airlines and correspondingly airports.

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2.2 Dimensions of a small airport

The expression regional or small airport arises from its distinction to larger airports mainly in number of passengers or volume of freight transported (EC, 2005). Furthermore, divisions such as flight fares, flight times or access time (Hess, 2010) can aid in the classification as well as corresponding airplane types an airport is able to accommodate due to its landing strip layout. Another approach to classify airports in the literature is presented by (Malighetti et al., 2009), based on mainly domestic airports headed by main national hub with a low presence of low-cost carriers, or based on airports of different countries with a predominant presence of low-cost carriers. Despite general classifications, the cargo situation of an aerodrome can aid in analyzing and distinguishing different types or grouping of airports (Mayer, 2016). However, it is noted that for many airports, freight output is relatively unimportant, due to the fact that airports handle air freight throughout airline activities and thus stands only for limited impact on an airports economic performance (Graham, 2005). Furthermore noticed by (Sarkis & Talluri, 2004; Vogel & Graham, 2013) while clustering airports, the cargo business has only taken a minor position in the analysis part.

2.3 Value creation of a regional airport

The connection between airports and regional development has been noted by several studies. Especially the focus of strategic infrastructure linking the importance of air transport and connecting regions (Percoco, 2010), as well as their significant role in regional economic development influencing a wide range of factors (Florida et al., 2015). Nevertheless, it is also emphasized during several analyses that regional economic development heavily relates to the size and scale of the corresponding airport. Furthermore, while considerable research has been done in examining economic development for major cities, contribution of regional air service to non-metropolitan regional development outcomes has received only limited attention (Blonigen & Cristea, 2015). That being stated, it is difficult to precisely determine the economic development that an airport contributes to a region, due to the fact that they are more likely to be located in larger regions with corresponding economic parameters (Baker et al., 2015; Florida et al., 2015). The framework of (Malina et al., 2007) distinguishes regional economic development by: direct, indirect, and induced purchasing power generated by an airport’s activities. In this context, direct refers to the operations of an airport and resulting direct economic activities of businesses in the airport’s operational environment or employment. Indirect relates to the value chain of suppliers of goods and services related to

12 the airports region and inducted effects are caused by consumption demand of direct and indirect airport employees. The companies at the airport are important consumers of intermediate and capital goods, which in turn lead to added value, employment and income for the producers of goods (Malina et al., 2007). Despite the aforementioned problematic relations and uncertain classifications, there are several factors that are affected by being part of the province of an airport and where a regional airport in particular has a value editing utilization. These factors can be classified as infrastructure and accessibility as well as socioeconomic proportions.

2.3.1 Infrastructure and Accessibility

It is an arguable point, if airports act as the primary facilitator of the regional growth, whilst providing accessibility and improving supply side components, or, if economic development has the result of determining a growing demand for transport service with an emphasis on air service (Halpern & Brathen, 2011). Nevertheless, regional accessibility is crucial nowadays not only for the mobility of people, nonetheless to enhance industrial bonded parks, warehouses etc. Regional accessibility presents in many cases the only gateway to bigger hubs (Beifert, 2016a), as many small airports are generally located in areas providing a limited infrastructure due to population size and resulting demand. Regardless the location, airfreight has the potential to improve regional and national accessibility through efficient connectivity to distant markets and global supply chains in a fast and secure manner (Kasarda & Green, 2005). An enhanced infrastructure has the potential of combining regional logistics services, creating efficient network of regional and interregional logistics service providers. Furthermore, accessibility is closely linked to the significance of air travel as it has a great impact on trade and commerce, which is superior to any other transportation mode for certain goods, considering time and security. The term travel time value has been analyzed extensively by (Merkert & Beck, 2017) in the context of regional aviation, arguing for passengers’ willingness to spend an additional amount of money with the assumed benefit of arriving faster. Especially business travelers are of importance for the continuity of a regional airport, due to time restrictions, emphasizing on air service as a crucial factor for regional communities and companies. Accessibility in the business context is noted to be of high importance with resulting time value assumptions, as in comparison to the leisure perspective, where it tends to be of secondary significance. Aside from the passenger perspective, accessibility and infrastructure are closely linked to air cargo. Customer preferences are fast changing and thus are requirements for ordered goods. The air service

13 industry in cargo relations has been influenced by costly and light products that are to be delivered as soon as possible. Furthermore, air cargo has been identified as a crucial role for the survival of regional and small airports, due to the financial insecurities that result from focusing on the traditional view of an airport and the effort of passenger movement (Beifert, 2016b).

2.3.2 Socioeconomic

Socio-economic relates to the interaction of social and economic factors, creating an important factor in the value creation of an airport. Despite the obvious effect of an improved infrastructure, soft factors such as level of customer experience, level of value chain of suppliers and goods as well as level of sophistication in terms of operational effectiveness and quality of micro-economic business environment are to be recognized (Beifert, 2016a). Furthermore, the impact of a regional airport can affect local employment structures, regional labour market and thus general regional economic growth considerably. Labour supply through a regional airport affects the wealth and economic growth of a region, provides the possibility for job creation and employment and has the potential to positively influence education, human and capital development (Blonigen & Cristea, 2015; Brueckner & Girvin, 2008). Local residents benefit from a variety of economic growth factors that tend to be more difficult to measure or place into visibility as in comparison to accessibility and infrastructure. Those outcomes are often neglected, while analyzing the value creation of an airport, as other measurements such as financial impacts are easier to evaluate. Despite financial discrepancies, which occur for a variety of regional airports in Europe, it is important to recognize the positive effects created by a regional airport with a focus on the corresponding regional area and for example the service and high-tech industry (Brueckner & Girvin, 2008).

2.4 Airport Strategy

In a general approach, strategy can be classified as setting goals, parameters to determine actions, as well as resources required to achieve targets (Zhang, 2005). Within the context of airport strategy, considerations such as maximization in terms of airport systems and terminal capacity, optimization of operational processes as well transformation of cooperate structures can be applied. From a business perspective, strategy strives for development, with

14 regards to airport strategy this development refers to an increase of existing capacity of terminals, runway systems or apron utilizations (Solak et al., 2009). Nevertheless, the growth aspect of an airport is reliant on several indicators that vary from investor capacities, government regulations to inhabitants’ nuisances. The optimization of operational processes is especially critical for regional airports while adapting to safety regulations in the aviation industry as well as in the development prospective to comply to airline specifications. In accordance with financial feasibility; accounting structures, cost assessments and budgeting are key elements in operational optimization (Fraport, 2017). The term cooperate structure in the aviation industry elaborates on privatization, which is vital for regional airports with a link to increasing financial insecurities and economical feasibilities as mentioned by (Beifert, 2016a).

2.5 Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory

Freeman’s stakeholder concept aims to create an idea to comprehend how a business genuinely functions. It is originally conceived as a strategic instrument for any business to broaden their vision of management (Fassin, 2009). The core notion of the stakeholder theory evolves around the concept of understanding that in order to be successful, a business has to create value for its customers, suppliers, employees, communities, and financiers including shareholders, banks and other monitory instances (Freeman, 1984). The theory emphasizes on the importance to consider each stake or stakeholder as a whole, instead of separating them and evaluating them from an isolated perception. Furthermore, it is the task of a manager or entrepreneur to analyze the interest of each stakeholder and realize common interests among the groups and how they align with each other. Each stakeholder group displays a significant portion of importance for the survival of a given organization or business. Simplifying the concept of the stakeholder theory can be expressed as for example; a business that has lost its connection to its suppliers, or a business that is facing complications with their workforce resulting in employees not willing to work for them with their full potential and is thus facing difficulties to survive. A special emphasis for managers should be the scope of attention in order to participate the direction of all involved stakeholders, without losing focus on a single entity. Furthermore, it is notified by (Freeman, 1984) that a single stakeholder unit is unable to create something, which the group as a combined unit could achieve, e.g. corporate stakeholder responsibility.

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Figure 1: The Original Stakeholder Model by Freeman (1984)

The stakeholder model represents a visual format to comprehend the stakeholder theory. The framework of the model illustrates visually the relationships among the various groups of actors in and around the organization (Fassin, 2009) The original stakeholder model, as seen in figure 1, has been modified by several researcher, including Freeman himself, focusing on internal and external factors to be applicable to more complex business situations. Figure 2 demonstrates that (Freeman, 2003) reduces the scheme to five internal stakeholders, and six external stakeholders.

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2.6 Airport Stakeholders

Literature includes many attempts to classify stakeholders based on different attributes. A stakeholder in general refers to any individual or group that maintains a stake in an organization in a way that a shareholder holds share of a firm (Fassin, 2009). Another approach is provided by (Kaler, 2003), arguing for claimant and the influencer definition of what is perceived to be a stakeholder with the link to the original definition by (Freeman, 1984) arguing for any individual or group that is affected or can affect the achievement of an organization’s objectives. This research paper will focus upon the original definition with an emphasis on the airport objectives and the stakeholders that are being identified based upon the stakeholder theory as well as preliminary research. Despite the fact that many small airports are reliant on financial support from various sources, it is crucial to recognize their role in economic terms and for entrepreneurship growth in their regions. Accepting their own dependence on their corresponding regional prosperity will aid in the process to improve operational activities through a better coordination of relevant stakeholders (Beifert, 2016a). These relevant stakeholders are based upon Freeman’s stakeholder theory, leading to the following stakeholder groups being identified due to their position of affecting or being affected by MAA: Government, inhabitants, local companies, airport employees, airlines, competitors, passengers. All involved stakeholders are analyzed focusing on their power influence as well as their importance for the region and thus for the airport itself.

2.6.1 Government

The government is one of the key players in terms of influence as well as importance for regional airports and airports in general. Due to the involvement of the Netherlands in the European Union, it is obligatory for the country to follow, as well as actively participate in proposing regulations and laws concerning the aviation security in Europe. The European Parliament and Council are responsible for proposing and specifying common rules and basic standards, which need to be applied by every airport throughout Europe nonetheless the size and type. These rules aim to achieve a common aviation security and monitor procedures and implementations. Regulation (EC) N°300/2008 of the European Parliament and Council states that every airport that engages in passenger fright is obligated to follow common basic standards comprising of e.g. a screening process for passengers, cabin baggage and hold baggage, as well as airport security checks and access control. Furthermore, each member of

17 the European Union is obligated to propose a single authority for aviation security, in addition to an aviation security and control program (Council, 2008). These regulations demonstrate that even regional airports are greatly influenced by governments and are required to cooperate with local authorities to ensure all aviation securities are up to the newest standards in order to keep operating.

In some cases, the government of a country or a province can apart from being a regular stakeholder of an airport, also be an actual shareholder of an airport. This is also the case in the Netherlands. Provincial authorities in the Netherlands are the people's representatives of the province, they determine the policy of the province on the main points which includes spatial planning (Government.nl, 2020). In the Netherlands, the local provinces can thus have a great impact on the existence of a regional airport as it is a part of spatial planning. If the majority of the Provincial authorities are in favor of the existence of the airport they can provide an aid. Every four years, however, there are new elections. Dependent on those outcomes, the new majority might not be in favor of the regional airport anymore and decisions could be changed. In some cases, the airport can strongly depend on the will of the Provincial authorities. This can be due to the fact that the Provincial authorities are the main shareholder. On the one hand a new local government with other plans could mean the end of the airport. On the other hand, if the airfield manages to attract new, private investors to reduce the involvement of the government, the governmental involvement could be reduced.

2.6.2 Inhabitants

Inhabitants are a vital stakeholder group that are greatly affected by aeronautical noise generated by airport operations and thus have an excessive influence power on the growth of air traffic and daily operations of an airport (Brueckner & Girvin, 2008; Mantecchini, 2016). Noise and carbon impacts are common problems in the airport development, as airports should be as close as possible to cities to enhance accessibility time, and on the other side as far from citizens as possible to minimize noise consequences. Despite technical advancements to mitigate the effects of noise and air pollution symptoms, local communities present the prime threat to enforce operational constraints. The dramatic growth in air traffic has contributed to an increase of nuisances, due to intensifications of flight slots required for passenger and cargo movement. Especially the late development of air transportation in the e-commerce sector, as well as the influence of LCCs (Zuidberg, 2017) and increasing flight

18 slots for regional airports presents potential for inconveniences sides inhabitants. Noise complaints began in the 50’s with the introduction of jet engines. Nevertheless, noise cancelling mechanisms and technologies have been part of airline manufactures as well as airport outline development to mitigate noise impacts for local residents to a minimum. While comparing the noise generated from a Boeing of the year 1967 and a recent model, perceived take-off noise was limited to one-third (Brueckner & Girvin, 2008). Another critical factor for noise complain and nuisances’ sides inhabitants represents the intentions or actively participation in night flights. Many regional airports do not have the permission to operate during the night, more precisely during certain hours during of the night, which are specified by local authorities due to noise impacts. Not only regional airports are facing night flight issues, also European large airports such as Frankfurt had to investigate sleep patterns to determine if an extension of the airport and resulting night flights affect local residents and their noise perception (Basner & Siebert, 2010). Another essential part of inhabitants as stakeholder is their environmental pressure on local authorities. This relates mainly to negative perceived aspects of aviation in terms of air pollution, incidental soil as well as water pollution, waste generation with high share of hazardous wastes and change of landscapes (Jakubiak, 2015). Notwithstanding the nuisance resulting from regional aviation, it is important to present a regional airport in the perception of creating job opportunities and economic growth as explained in the socioeconomic part. These value creation aspects are profoundly affecting local residents as well and need to be recognized as they present reasons for the community to positively affects operations of airports.

2.6.3 Local companies

There is a mutual interaction between local companies and airports in terms of supply of services and goods. Supply of services comprises the possibility of employing a skilled workforce from abroad due to enhanced connectivity, and vice versa being employed outside the regional territory. Supply of goods relates to the demand created or satisfied by local companies of an airport, improving national accessibility through efficient connectivity to distant markets and the possibility to connect to global supply chains in a secure and consistent manner (Beifert, 2016b). Another classification is provided by (Mayer, 2016), determining the relation between airports and air cargo in three sectors. Firstly, domestic consumption and catering for exports from the local area. Secondly, cargo for manufacturing processes of the region, and lastly air-to-air flow in case air freight needs to be transported

19 to a region to which the corresponding airport has not direct connection. Air cargo is generally operated through larger aircrafts, cargo airplanes and charter airplanes, provided that larger airplanes can be accommodated. It is affected by and affects local business likewise, and is recognized to be vital factor for regional airports. The need for an effective cargo management is determined by the forecast of several researchers (Ison et al., 2011; Totamane et al., 2014) as well as recognized industry leaders, predicting that air cargo will continue to grow at an impressive annual average rate of 4,2% over the next two decades (Boeing, 2018). Especially on regional level of aviation with strong competition in the passenger traffic section, the air cargo market demonstrates great potential to create financial sustainability without being obliged to support by national or local public authorities (Beifert, 2016b). Local businesses benefit greatly by an improved accessibility through cargo possibilities, resulting from regional airports. Nevertheless, efficient positioning and appropriate strategies are required to fully integrate air cargo supply chains regional wise in order to yield benefits not only for stakeholders such as airports themselves or airlines, but also regional communities on an economic and social beneficial scale. Within the research focus of the Netherlands and their recognition as tulip exporter, it is also vital to mention that an estimated 80% of the international trade in cut flowers and meats, as well as 60% of all fresh fish is transported by air, while electronics account for around 40% of the total value of air freight (Kasarda & Green, 2005).

2.6.4 Airlines

Airlines might present the most obvious stakeholder group, as an airport without any airlines would cease to exist. In the sense of regional airports, low-cost airlines and full-service airlines are to be analyzed, as being part of the stakeholder group. First of all, full-service carriers can be classified by the traditional view of airlines afore the institutional reform in Europe with deregulations and market integrations, that eventually introduced low-cost airlines such as Ryanair or EasyJet. The difference between those two airline classifications can be determined through the service offer component, where full-service airlines provide additional amnesties of flight entertainment, checked baggage, meals etc. Low-cost carriers on the other side limit flights to basic services, abolishing inflight service, entertainment, seat allocation and emphasize on low fares as main selling point (Barrett, 2004).The growth of LCCs and their market position has affected airports tremendously and resulted in several changes in the aviation industry (Clewlow et al., 2014; De Neufville, 2008). Low-cost airlines

20 operate on a point-to-point basis, creating an interest in second city airports, as can be seen by the European cities London and Frankfurt with secondary city airports of Stansted and Frankfurt-Hahn (Barrett, 2004). LCCs have a critical position in the aviation industry as their policy in the bargaining process and resulting power over regional or small airports is decisive and resulting direct revenues cannot be compared to those of hub airports from full-service airlines. Nevertheless, if managed strategically the benefits for regional airports with excess capacity may be intriguing. As analyzed by Barrett (2004), LCCs have a strong correlation to deliver business even to virtually empty airports, as well as generate revenues from catering and shopping for services or an increase in car hires. The corresponding airports need to comprehend that LCCs can be an advocate for non-aeronautical profits as in comparison to full-service airlines that directly influence aeronautical revenues. Contemplating the aforementioned advantages as well as the fact that LCCs accelerate growth potential, relation management of LCCs is considered to be a critical factor for smaller airports while focusing on their future operations (Huderek-Glapska & Nowak, 2016). On the contrary, full-service airlines have a low-growth prospect within European routes, demonstrating risks for regional airports (Barrett, 2004). As can be seen by the airline examples of Swissair and Air Berlin declaring bankruptcy in 2002 and 2017.

2.6.5 Airport employees

The stakeholder group of employees have a great influence on all daily operations of an airport, ensuring for instance; cooperation among airlines and ground personnel, scheduling time slots, or engaging in direct contact with passengers within different functions. The term employee in the airport context presents a numerous diversity due to the complexity of airport operations. Furthermore, they present the most important factor for aviation safety, operating through airport security in terms of baggage and passenger control scanning (Pettersen & Bjornskau, 2015). Security has a special meaning in the aviation industry, especially with reference to terrorist attacks in the past, leading to an evolution in airport security with an increase of personnel particularly trained to secure borders and scanning passengers (Hastings & Chan, 2013). There are no differences concerning regulations in the aviation security among regional or larger international airports. All airports engaging in passenger or air cargo freight are required to follow the rules as stated by the European Parliament and Council, and thus have to train their personnel accordingly. Despite employees related to the security of an airport, there a several jobs influencing daily processes

21 such as mechanics, air traffic controllers, workers of the retail shops etc. Furthermore, considering an airport as a common business concept, various departments are presented in terms of finance, marketing or management. As stated by (Pettersen & Bjornskau, 2015), management of airports contain various challenges through complex organizational principals and systematic vulnerability influencing aviation security and flight safety. Thus, underlying the focus of competent employees in the management sector, due to immense responsibility and intricacy.

2.6.6 Competitors

In a broad sense, competitors of airports can be determined by other modes of transportation, responsible for the movement of goods or persons. These modes include movement by rail, water or road (Coyle et al., 2016). Despite their specialities and benefits, movement of goods by ship or truck can be considered as contender for air cargo. Whereas, movement of persons, with a focus on Europe, can be equally achieved and thus clustered as competitor by train or emerging road transportation opportunities such as Flixbus or BlaBlaCar. These opportunities might be advantageous while traveling through central Europe, nevertheless, taking into consideration remote areas of north or east Europe, lack in terms of connectivity and time consumption.

Nevertheless, with an emphasis on regional airports, the competitiveness in the aviation industry will be limited to other airports regulated by size or other characteristically priorities in the customer orientation e.g. cargo specialization. The deregulation of the European aviation market has vastly increased competition among airports combining the possibilities of low-cost airlines and low-cost airports in order to gain market share from an already excising passenger pool (Barrett, 2004). Especially in times where low cost carriers are still growing faster than full-service network carriers, increasing their shares beyond economy class passengers to gain market share in the business sector (Linz, 2012). Competition of regional airports is closely connected to the point-to-point approach and major airports to the hub and spoke approach. Thus, symptomatically competitive advantages emerge, of for example: lower air fares, less waiting time due to size of corresponding airport, or longer surface journey times to city centers (Barrett, 2004). The development of secondary airports to demonstrate competition between low-cost airports and full-service airports, as mentioned in the airline stakeholder section, demonstrates that larger cities with large market

22 share in passenger freight tend to attract the development of low-cost airlines. However, this also creates competition on the base of low-cost airports among each other’s, with a focus on gaining market share from major hub airports. Particularly in Europe, demonstrating a high density of airports for specific regions, leading to high competitive bargaining procedures for cargo and passenger freights.

2.6.7 Passengers

Passengers are one of the most common stakeholders of an airport. Reflecting on the year 2019, 4.5 billion passengers have been transported from and to various airports throughout the world (ATAG, 2019). With the world population nowadays being around 7.8 billion, 4.5 billion is a tremendous amount of passengers. All of these passengers have the desire to travel in the best possible way to their final destination. As indicated in chapter 1, the point-to-point model, which suits with the strategy of regional airports is receiving more and more popularity. Small, regional airports could aid to transport people faster and more direct to their destination as they would not have to deal with layovers at hub airports. However, speed is not the most important factor. The value of travel time savings is something that passengers are willing to pay more for, especially in the business field (Merkert & Beck, 2017), or in terms of drastic improvements such as flying at supersonic speed. Nevertheless, disruptive changes in the sense of reintroducing supersonic travelling are highly unlikely to be seen any time soon at regional airports, due to technological requirements and regional airport layouts.

Since passengers are such a big group of stakeholders, it is important to keep them satisfied and continually analyze their needs. In coherence with inhabitants and possible noise regulations, airline passengers might be harmed by raising fares and potentially reducing service quality (Brueckner & Girvin, 2008). Other stakeholder groups can have a huge impact on the passengers and can, thus, dramatically change their whole travelling experiences. Airports attempt to use this in their advantage. As the airport operators seek to attract revenue from their passengers, they focus on designing their terminals in a way that passengers have to go through- or walk close to the shops located at the airports (Gupta & Venkaiah, 2015). The difficulty for the regional airports is to live up to the needs of the passengers. Due to the fact that regional airports operate on less space than international larger airports, it is of great value to investigate, how the airfields can generate the most

23 revenue from the passengers. (Rahman, 2004) states that researching the customer’s needs is important to be able to create a competitive and sustainable advantage in comparison with potential competitors. Thus, it is especially vital for regional airports, that are located in an area with a lot of competition from other airfields, to analyze their potential situation. Competitive advantages of the airport services itself, could help to improve the customer satisfaction of their passengers and thus the image and functioning of the airport in general.

2.7 Theoretical Framework

The original theory of Freeman and the corresponding model are being used as the core concept of the theoretical framework. An adjustment of both the original and the adapted version of 2003, as mentioned in the literature review, will aid in creating an understandable guideline towards answering the research questions. The stakeholder theory of Freeman suits perfectly in designing a comprehension basis towards the value creation aspect of MAA, and thus generates a solid foundation for the empirical part of the thesis. The idea of the adapted model is to stimulate a single adjustment, which focuses on the political orientation of the airport and thus the research emphasis, displaying governments as a crucial influential factor/ stakeholder. Furthermore, it combines the fundamental issues addressed in the research questions by capturing the essence of both e.g. value creation and stakeholder involvement.

Figure 3: Adapted Theoretical Framework Model

The framework aids to present the visualization of connections among each stakeholder group as well as the government being the indicator of future directions and influence power,

24 rather than an external stakeholder, as indicated by Freeman. Government and political orientation in the Province of Maastricht as well as throughout the Netherlands, are considered to be the major force, while deciding on airport operations. The airport is displayed as the primary originator with a visualization of a circle surrounding it, connecting all stakeholder groups, and presenting the assumption that each group is to some extent involved in the other groups. In that sense, local community has the potential to stimulate the passenger stakeholder group, provide employees, or influence competitor and airline frequencies. Furthermore, there is the prospective of individuals to be part of several stakeholder groups at the same time, indicating the requirement for a connection in the theoretical framework among the stakeholder groups.

The proposed theoretical framework aims to add in the process of generating knowledge that has been neglected in the literature. The focus within the context of value creation of the airport, proposes to present the information provided in the literature review and add to it through the empirical findings stimulated by the stakeholders of the framework. The significance of the stakeholders lies within their direct connection to the issue while being indirectly linked to political orientation through their democratic voting decision. Thus, aspiring to close the literature gap of value creation of an airport for the corresponding area not only through political emphasis, however, by additional information closely related to the MHAL region that have not been academically investigated. Furthermore, the acquired information will then be considered in a brought perspective to potentially state stakeholder influence on regional airports strategy within as well as apart from the Netherlands and the MHAL region to contribute to existing literature.

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3. Research Methodology

This chapter will provide the reader with an insight of how the research has been executed in order to work towards answering the research questions. First of all, the research philosophy will be elaborated, followed by research approach and data collection method and sample selection. Lastly, research ethics and data analysis will be discussed.

3.1 Research philosophy

Determining the most appropriate philosophy is a requirement for every academic research. Research philosophies include ontology – philosophical assumptions about the nature of reality, as well as epistemology – the study of the nature of knowledge (Easterby-Smith, Jackson & Thorpe, 2015). Out of the four different ontologies, the researchers decided that relativism is the most applicable within this research. Relativism states that there are many truths and that facts depend on the viewpoint of the observer (Easterby-Smith, 2015). This relates to the many different viewpoints of the different politicians of MAA, as well as stakeholder groups that will be addressed thoroughly in the interviews. In a complex case such as MAA, it would be a false approach to assume a single truth, nevertheless, it is also not completely based on opinions. The outcome of the study will mainly be of qualitative data, while it can contain to some extent, quantitative data in a numerical style. The epistemology that suits best with the thesis is social constructionism due to its focus on the way that people make sense of the world (Shotter, 1993) rather than measured through objective methods as is done in the positivism approach (Easterby-Smith, 2015). Relativism and constructionism usually fit together as there is a set link between epistemology and ontology. Since the viewpoints of the stakeholders in this research is a major point in the primary research, the perception on how they experience it, is more important than the information that can be investigated through thoroughly secondary research.

3.2 Research approach

The research approach that has been chosen for this thesis is of a deductive kind. Research that starts with a theory, usually developed from reviewing academic papers and literature, followed by a design and research strategy to test the theory, is considered as research with a deductive approach (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2007).

26 For this thesis, the stakeholder theory has been chosen and partly adapted in order to get the desired match with the topic of this paper. The groundwork of this thesis, however, is the stakeholder theory, rather than in an inductive approach where one works from observations towards building an own theory. Concluding that this research is based on an already existing structure. The researchers have the aspiration to start from the pre-defined structure and base the data collection on the grounds of the theory. This in fact, will add to the theory and the research to work from the general approach towards the specific approach, which is common for deductive research (Saunders et al., 2007).

The deductive approach has been chosen as the best fitting approach with the subject and the politicians present a major role in this subject. The politicians are the most important stakeholder for the research and, therefore, receive the most focus. The primary data that will be collected from the politicians, together with the other stakeholder groups will help the authors to write a thesis that is built up from a solid proven academic base.

3.3 Data collection method

3.3.1 Secondary data

Prior to primary research, secondary data had to be collected in order to gain more knowledge about the various subjects involved. This data forms the structure of the research and without this information, the research would have no pillars to stand on. The data is needed in order to know which gap to fill with primary data and, thus, what kind of primary research to execute in order to answer the research questions in a fulfilling way.

To generate comprehensive knowledge, the researchers have selected journals from various available databases such as web of science, Jönköping University Library, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect. Initially 50 articles have been chosen, however, as the thesis developed further, more articles have been added to the list, and some other articles that proved to be of less relevance, have been removed of the list. The research was executed by combining a variety of keywords which included among other terms: regional airports, local airports, point to point model, low budget airlines, low cost carriers, airport stakeholders, aircraft noise, economic profitability, local aviation and further synonyms to the aforementioned terms. Another relevance factor for choosing an article was the number of times it has been cited by other author to guarantee the most reliable and credible quality.