UK Airports Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

UK Airports Industry - Essay Example Looking at the above facts, it is clear that the airport industry forms an integral part of the economy of UK. The objective of the current report is to present a competitive analysis on the UK Airport Industry. The demand and supply conditions of the airport sector of UK will be analysed in terms of location and concentration. Entry and exit barriers will help in determining industry attractiveness and future trends. The report will also take an account of competitive structures surrounding the firms operating under the UK Airport Industry. The report will also throw light on anti-competitive behaviour within the industry. UK has a history of pre-developed commercial airports located near ex-military airfields. As such, number of airports in UK has grown substantially over years. Majority of these airports are for commercial operations. Most of these airports are located near high population regions such as, North West and North East England, which also lessens distance between them. Concentration and location of UK airports also indicates easy access to majority of population. For instance, almost 70 percent of the total UK population can reach airport within one hour. Also, the average gap between two to three airports across UK is 2 hours. Industry experts suggest that these airports might grow or shrink in future. At the same time, airport trends suggest otherwise. For instance, Durham Airport had served around 0.2 million people in 2010, compared to 0.9 millions in 2006 (Marchant, 2007). Hence, it can be said that while the number of airports have increased significantly, customers count have gra dually declined. These can be attributed to the increased competition due to close proximity, more choices among passengers, ease of travel and services offered by different airports. There are multiple ownership structures in case of UK airports, including wholly private, public-private, local government and mixed ownership. An example of