Criteria prioritization for investment policies in General Aviation aerodromes

• Published in: Regional science policy & practice 2022-12, Vol.14 (6), p.211-233
• Main Authors: Caetano, Mauro, Silva, Evandro José, Vieira, Diogo José, Alves, Cláudio Jorge Pinto, Müller, Carlos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aeronautical infrastructure; air transport; Aircraft; airport; Airports; Civil aviation; Commercial aircraft; Criteria; Decision making; General aviation; Investment strategy; Mathematical models; national integration; Public policy; Taxiing; Taxis
• ISSN: 1757-7802; 1757-7802
• DOI: 10.1111/rsp3.12538

Due to the significant proportion of General Aviation (GA) in aircraft fleets and the high number of aerodromes in various countries, establishing investment criteria for aeronautical infrastructure necessitates the formulation of public policies regarding aviation. The literature dealing with the prioritization of airfields in receiving investments commonly uses commercial aviation data, such as the movement of passengers and aircraft at airports. As this kind of measure is not usually recorded in GA, such as the movement of air taxis, agricultural aviation, and instructional flights, the main gap covered by this study is to use variables that are feasible for GA. Adopting Brazil as a case study due to its substantial quantity of aircraft and aerodromes, this study’s georeferenced analysis considered 574 public aerodromes, 4,899 cities, and 4,550 towns distributed throughout the country, totaling 9,449 locations. To prioritize GA aerodromes, multi‐criteria decision‐making was used to prioritize 380 aerodromes with exclusive GA operations. The results indicate that regional location is the main concern in the construction of new aerodromes for GA, to prioritize better spatial coverage within the national territory. Furthermore, the study proposes a simplified mathematical model for public managers to use when formulating public policies to prioritize already existing aerodromes to increase investments and estimate maximum values to invest in these aerodromes. Different variables can be incorporated into the model according to the particularities of each country when formulating public aviation policies. Resumen Debido a la importante proporción de la Aviación General (AG) en las flotas de aviones y al elevado número de aeródromos en varios países, el establecimiento de criterios de inversión en infraestructura aeronáutica requiere la formulación de políticas públicas en materia de aviación. La bibliografía que trata de la priorización de los aeródromos a la hora de recibir inversiones suele utilizar habitualmente datos de aviación comercial, como el movimiento de pasajeros y aviones en los aeropuertos. Dado que este tipo de medidas no se registran habitualmente en la AG, como el movimiento de los taxis aéreos, la aviación agrícola y los vuelos de aprendizaje, la principal brecha que cierra este estudio es la utilización de variables que sean factibles para la AG. Adoptando Brasil como caso de estudio debido a su gran cantidad de aviones y aeródromos, el an