After the complete liberalization of the airline industry during the 1990s the industry has faced a rapid growth in passenger numbers. This has mainly been caused by the emergence of so-called Low Cost Carrier (LCC) that offer a simplified product (i.e. point-to-point flights without any frills) at a lower cost than traditional Network Carriers. Furthermore LCC also introduced a less differentiated pricing structure (Restriction Free Pricing) which forced competing network carriers to reduce the degree of price discrimination which they were able to practice until then in order to defend their market shares. This has led to a decrease of average yields, which resulted in difficulties for (smaller) Network Carriers to cover their fixed costs, related to the operation of a hub & spoke network. In this environment network airlines are looking for new revenue sources as well as further sources of cost reduction. This development has amplified the consolidation trend of the airline industry and led to the emergence of several multi-hub networks (e.g. Lufthansa runs hub-operation in Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Vienna). One way to leverage the fact that multi-hub networks allow several routings for one origin-destination city pair would be the introduction of flexible tickets, where the actual routing of the passenger is not defined at the moment of purchase but only a certain time prior to departure. This allows airlines to raise the load factor on their network by increasing the degree of overbooking which they currently practice by pooling the risk that more passengers arrive than there is capacity among several flights. Furthermore these tickets might allow network carriers to compete in the low-cost-airline segment without having to further reduce the price level of their regular product (with specified routing). The present dissertation examined possible designs of such a ticket and their impact on the acceptance by passengers by means of a choice based conjoint study among 356 travelers. The findings suggest that while 77.5% of leisure travelers are willing to accept flexible time-range tickets in their relevant set, only 56% of business travelers are considering using this kind of ticket. More particular the results also showed that business travelers are not willing to compromise on travel duration and departure times, and are subsequently willing to pay a premium for specified tickets. A market share simulation showed that depending on the selected product layout flexible time-range tickets are able to gain up to 60% market share when offered at a discount of up to 33% relative to traditional tickets. When it comes to the actual layout, the largest lever to increase the acceptance is to exclude connection flights from the potential set of flights. The results contribute to the young research area on flexible products by assessing the disutility which is experienced by customers with regard to particular product characteristics of flexible products. Furthermore the results aim at providing airline managers with a comprehensive overview of the possibilities which flexible time-range tickets bring along when it comes to increasing the load factor and thereby the revenues in a multi-hub network. (author's abstract)

Kleine regionale Flughäfen leiden oft unter begrenzter Nachfrage sodass sie ihre Kosten nicht decken können. Die Frage ist wie solche Flughäfen effizient strukturiert, bewirtschaftet und möglicherweise finanziell unterstützt werden können. Viele solcher Flughäfen werden einzeln betrieben und erhalten direkte lokale oder nationale Subventionen, während andere von den Quersubventionen leben. Die Dissertation befasst sich zuerst mit der Abschätzung der Effizienz von 85 regionalen europäischen Flughäfen (2002-2009) durch Anwendung der „Data Envelopment Analysis“. Die Schätzungen zeigen, dass die potenziellen Einsparungen 50 Prozent und gesteigerten Einnahmemöglichkeiten 25 Prozent betragen. Die Zugehörigkeit zu einem Flughafensystem reduziert die Effizienz um 5 Prozent. Das durchschnittliche Break-Even Passagieraufkommen hat sich im letzten Jahrzehnt mit 464.000 Passagiere mehr als verdoppelt. Die Flughäfen hätten ihre Kosten mit allein 166.000 Passagiere decken können, wären sie effizient betrieben worden. Der zweite Teil beschäftigt sich mit einem Vergleich der Flughäfen von AENA und DHMI (2009-2011). Eine „Russell measure“ der DEA zeigt, dass die Mehrheit der Flughäfen unter zunehmenden Skalenerträge arbeitet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen höhere durchschnittliche Effizienz der spanischen Flughäfen. Aber ein verstärkte privates Engagement steigert die Effizienz in den türkischen Flughäfen. Wir schlagen verschiedene wirtschaftspolitische Optionen vor um die Effizienz zu verbessern, wie zum Beispiel die Dezentralisierung von Flughafen-Management und die Verbesserung des Flughafennetzes durch die Schließung ineffizienter Flughäfen. Im letzten Teil wird eine räumliche Regressionsmethode verwendet um verschiedene Hypothesen zu testen. Die Ergebnisse von subventionierten französischen und norwegischen Flughäfen zeigen eine negative Auswirkung von Subventionen auf Kosteneffizienz der Flughäfen. Darüber hinaus wird die Bedeutung von Skaleneffekten veranschaulicht. / Small and regional airports often have insufficient revenues to cover their costs. The question is how such airports could be efficiently structured, managed and financially supported. Some airports are operated individually and receive direct subsidies from the local and federal governments. Others survive through cross-subsidizations. This dissertation first deals with the efficiency of 85 small regional European airports for the years 2002-2009 by applying a data envelopment analysis. Estimates show the potential savings and revenue opportunities to be 50 percent and 25 percent respectively. Belonging to an airport system reduces efficiency by about 5 percent. The average break-even passenger throughput over the last decade more than doubled to 464 thousand passengers. However airports behaving efficiently could have covered their operational costs with a mere 166 thousand passengers annually. The second part addresses the comparison of airports belonging to AENA and DHMI for the years between 2009 and 2011. The majority of airports operate under increasing returns to scale. A Russell measure of data envelopment analysis is implemented. Results indicate higher average efficiency levels at Spanish airports, but private involvement enhances efficiency at Turkish ones. Certain policy options including a greater decentralization of airport management and the restructuring of the airport network (by closing some inefficient airports) should be considered to increase the airport systems’ efficiency. In the final part of the dissertation, we have studied how the airport specific characteristics drive the unit costs. In order to capture the spatial interdependence of airport costs, a spatial regression methodology is applied. Two separate datasets of subsidized French and Norwegian airports are used to test various hypotheses. The results show a negative effect of subsidies on airport cost efficiency. Furthermore, the significance of scale economies is illustrated.

Ausgehend von der These, Luftverkehr finde am Boden statt, entwickelt die am Institut für Kulturwissenschaft verteidigte Dissertation eine spezifische Geopolitik des Luftverkehrs. Der Luftverkehr wird dabei über seine Operationen am Boden und an Flughäfen untersucht. Der genaue Blick auf die technischen Details bei der Implementierung dieser Anlagen in machthistorisch entscheidenden Momenten des 20. Jahrhunderts ermöglicht eine Revision geopolitischen Denkens und eröffnet einen innovativen Zugang für eine Genealogie der Globalisierung. Die Dissertation analysiert die Bewegungen in der Luft auf ihre stets lokalen und immanent territorialen Dimensionen – und widerlegt so den vermeintlichen und häufig wiederholten Anspruch an den Luftverkehr, er sei das globale, raumvernichtende Verkehrssystem par excellence (Carl Schmitt, Paul Virilio, Martin Heidegger). Die Dissertation ist auch ein Beitrag zur Genealogie von Medientheorie, insofern sie unter Rückgriff auf Harold A. Innis die Übertragung nicht von Zeichen, sondern von Personen und Gütern zum Gegenstand hat. Historisch geht sie von der Kriegslogistik der USA im Zweiten Weltkrieg aus. Sie bezieht heterogene Quellen ein: politische Programme und Debatten, internationale Beziehungen; philosophische, juridische, ökonomische und urbanistische Diskurse; ingenieurstechnische Entwicklungen und militärische Doktrinen. Sie nimmt den Leser mit auf eine Reise über alle Meere und Kontinente mit Fokus auf Saudi-Arabien, Zentral- und Südafrika, Brasilien und den Nahen Osten, untersucht Ereignisse von den 1930er bis 1970er Jahren und endet mit einem Epilog zu den Anschlägen vom 9. September 2011. / This dissertation develops a specific geopolitics of aviation, taking an original perspective as it starts with the assumption that air travel happens on the ground. The focus is on a thorough examination of the technical details for implementing the facilities of airports at moments decisive for the distribution of power in the 20th century. Geopolitical discourses are revised to enable an original understanding for the genealogy of globalisation. The dissertation analyses movements in the air with view on their immanent local and territorial dimensions. It breaks with the overcome understanding of aviation as a traffic system that is global and that destroys space as no other (Carl Schmitt, Paul Virilio, Martin Heidegger). The dissertation was disputed at the Institute for Cultural Studies. It is also a contribution to the genealogy of media theory, following in the footsteps of Harold A. Innis, as it focuses on the neglected transmission of goods and people instead of signs and codes. Starting point is the US military logistics in World War II. The heterogeneous material under review includes political programmes and debates; international relations; philosophical, juridical and economic discourses; urbanism, engineering and military doctrines. It takes the reader on a journey around the world, with focus on Saudi-Arabia, Central and Southern Africa, Brazil and the Near East, taking into account events from the 1930s to 1970s, and concluding with an epilogue on the events of 9/11.