Aviation in the Global Context Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Aviation in the Global Context - Essay Example This papers aims at critically evaluating the challenges and opportunities faced by airport planners today as well as critically accessing the response of airport operators in view of new airline customers and their needs. The evaluation is based on the statement that deregulation and liberalization have resulted in challenges and opportunities for both airlines and airports. Business models and networks continue to evolve. One of the major factors that are notable in the European aviation market according to Button et al, 1998 was the deregulation that was done in three packages that is in 1987, 1990, and 1992. Major aspect that led to deregulation of airline industries across the world was the deregulation of the domestic passenger air transport market in US in 1978. As the result of reducing the level of government regulations, most airline companies benefited from new opportunities that exposed them to increased profits even though there emerged challenges that needed the airline planners to make costly adjustments. Busby et al (1997) indicates that within the European market, significant number of trunk carriers reorganized their networks from point –to point into hub-and-spoke networks. Additionally, in their efforts to connect with other hubs worldwide, direct flights from medium airports to other medium airports were increasingly replaced by indirect flights through a central airport or hub. As the result of deregulation, Airey (2002) depicts that European airlines adopted wave-systems structures or intensified the existing structures. One of the notable challenges is that for the airlines to provide quality services that were in line with the government policies, they needed to intensify their wave-system structures by adding more waves or increasing the quality of the wave-system structure. For example, Air France adopted a six wave system at Paris CDG, which resulted into configuring the airport in a real