Airports and ground handling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Airports and ground handling - Essay Example Various studies suggest that privately owned firms can realize higher levels of operating efficiency compared to state owned firms (Megginson et al., 2004). In the UK, there are various ownership structures of airports which include complete private ownership, local government ownership and public-private ownership. While there are several airports which are individually owned, there are also many airport operator groups in the UK. The privatisation of the UK airports is not an isolated case since the move has been embraced by other governments globally. For instance, Austria commercialised and privatised the Vienna International Airport; Australia privatised Melbourne or Tullamarine (Baird, 1996) while New Zealand privatised the ports of Wellington and Auckland international airports. Ideally, many governments globally have leased out their airports on a long-term basis to private entities to operate them to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness (Assaf, Gillen, & Barros, 2012). It is also crucial to note that this kind of arrangement has been extended to the management of sea ports and terminals across the world to enhance efficiency by easing congestion in the port facilities. A good example was the privatisation of nine UK ports in 1983 that formed the Associated British Ports (Haarmeyer, &Yorke, 1993). The privatization enabled the ports to increase capital investment, diversify assets and adopt effic ient practices (Haarmeyer, &Yorke, 1993). Thus, it is evident that privatisation of government owned entities is crucial in improving their operational efficiency and effectiveness. It is important, however, to note that privatisation of airports has not taken place in all parts of the UK and the world. Some airports such those in the Islands of Scotland, which are not busy or desirable are usually funded by the state to facilitate the movement of people