Kingston Airport Economic Impact
The following is an excerpt from the Kingston (Norman Rogers) Airport — 2009 Economic Impact Study. The complete study can be downloaded at right.
METHODOLOGY
This update to the Kingston Airport Economic Impact study has been undertaken to measure the total contribution made by the airport to the provincial economy during 2009. To determine the total economic impact of an airport, economists measure three types of impacts: direct, indirect, and induced. The sum of the three measurements equals the total economic impact of the airport.
- The direct economic impact refers to the employment and revenues attributable to the commercial activities which take place directly at the airport.
- Indirect economic impact measures the purchase of goods and services by airport businesses from other firms, in terms of the employment and revenues related to the incremental business activities resulting from their operations in support of airport operations.
- The induced economic impact estimates the increase in employment and spending resulting from direct and indirect airport activities. The jobs sustained by the direct and indirect airport activity generate an increase in household income. This drives the induced economic impact that results from an increase in purchases at local businesses.
For this analysis, the economic impact of Kingston Airport has been estimated using a model originally formulated by the Transport Institute of the University of Manitoba. The model consists of two econometric formulas and was developed by applying regression analysis to the results of more than forty detailed economic impact studies performed at Canadian airports. It has been used extensively to calculate the economic impact of airports across Canada, and when compared to the results obtained using a survey methodology, the model was found to produce fair and reasonable estimates of an airports impact on the provincial economy.
The outputs of the model are estimates of the total revenues, or economic output, and employment generated throughout the province by the commercial activity conducted by the airport operator, its tenants and others at the airport. These estimates represent the sum of the direct, indirect and induced employment and revenue generated by airport activities.
