Airport congestion management under uncertainty

This paper is about single airports and airport networks. Linear and non-linear model specifications are applied to analyze the relative welfare effects of slots and congestion pricing under uncertainty. Uncertainty refers to passenger benefits and congestion costs. I show that, from a welfare perspective, congestion pricing is the right choice for single airports in a linear context, but that slots might be preferred, if non-linearities (quadratic marginal external congestion costs) exist. I also show that uncertainty about congestion costs increases the relative welfare benefits of congestion pricing while airport networks increase the relative welfare benefits of slots. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.