August 19, 2011--MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL—Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is the second most efficiently operated large airport in North America according to a study published by the Air Transport Research Society, a think tank based at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business.
The study measured the fiscal efficiency of 156 airports and 19 airport groups in North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. Specifically, the Global Airport Performance Benchmarking study looked at management efficiency, cost competitiveness and airport fees and charges. The report indicates that the most fiscally efficient airports keep costs in check by developing strong non-aeronautical revenue streams.
Airlines’ cost per boarding passenger at MSP is among the lowest for hub airports in North America. The Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates MSP, keeps costs to provide air service at MSP low through strong fiscal management and aggressive development of non-aeronautical revenues from sources such as from food, retail and service vendors, airport advertising and auto rental. MSP offers more than 100 shops and restaurants and 25,000 parking spaces. The MAC maintains a much smaller workforce than operators of most hub airports despite the fact the MAC also operates six general aviation airports.
“Keeping costs to airlines lower than most other hubs gives MSP a competitive advantage in attracting and maintaining air service,” said MAC Executive Director Jeff Hamiel. “I believe our fiscal efficiency contributes to the fact MSP is the second busiest hub in the Delta Air Lines’ system and people in the Twin Cities enjoy more air service, per capita, than those in any other U.S. cities but Denver and Atlanta.”
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport earned top honors for fiscal efficiency among the large North American airports studied.
The study was based on 2009 data collected by ATRS in an effort guided by 14 leading academics from Asia, Europe, North America and Australia.
For more information on the study, visit www.atrsworld.org.
