Departamento de Análisis Económico Aplicado, Campus Universitario de Tafira, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Edificio Departamental de CC. EE. y EE. Módulo D., 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Dr. Roberto Rendeiro Martín-Cejas
Departamento de Análisis Económico Aplicado, Campus Universitario de Tafira, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Edificio Departamental de CC. EE. y EE. Módulo D., 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Current public transport supply on the Island of Lanzarote is clearly insufficient, and opportunities to substitute private automobiles are extremely limited, for residents and tourists alike. Therefore, this paper analyzes the possibility of introducing a tourist bus service to connect Lanzarote’s main tourist attractions, and it also focuses on a move towards public transport by tourists to reduce the CO2 emitted by excessive private car usage. This work assesses the impact of road transport in accessing tourist activities on Lanzarote Island and its implications for sustainable tourism development. The evaluation is based on the volume of CO2 emissions for the current tourist mobility model on the island and an alternative option such as a tourist bus route. The methodology employed here is the application of a geographical information system (GIS). The study analyzes how to manage the impact of road access to tourist sites through the implementation of a new tourist bus line. The study seeks to evaluate the design of a new bus to deliver tourists to key tourist activities on Lanzarote Island. A GIS-T algorithm is used to compare the level of CO2 emissions from the current tourist mobility model versus the implementation of a new touristic bus. The levels of pollution produced by the present system and the tourist route are compared, and different levels of demand for the new circuit are considered. We conclude that in order to reduce the current levels of emissions by around 15%, some 19.4% of the tourists that currently use hire cars would have to switch to the new tourist bus service.
The existence of aviation subsidies can exacerbate congestion in airports that operate near their maximum threshold. One of the main operational issues in airports, that is, aircraft taxiing operations, could become more difficult and, therefore, produce negative effects on airport capacity management. Air carrier economies, touristic mobility (leisure travel), and the environment could also be negatively affected. Greenhouse gas emissions, passenger travel time, and air carriers’ fuel costs, for example, might rise due to aircrafts’ increased taxiing time. This paper seeks to analyse the impact of regional aviation subsidies for regional hub airports in the Canary Island air traffic network; specifically, the effect it has on airports’ capacity in terms of LTO (landing and taking off) cycle delays and its repercussions for passenger travel time, air carrier economics, and the environment. Therefore, to quantify the extent that the increased traffic from subsidies cause airport ground operations to delay flights, the disturbance between aircraft categories in landing and taking off operations must be considered. The disturbance between aircrafts will be evaluated by employing a simple model of landing intervals considering two aircraft categories (i.e., ATRs-72, ATRs-42, and B737/A320 aircraft families). The above-mentioned methodology provides an approximation of the average processing rate for take-off using the ultimate capacity concept for a variety of aircrafts landing on a single runway of the airport. As a result, it must be noted that there is a potential economic and environmental impact associated with the implementation of the subsidy increase for residents’ interisland travel and from the Canary Islands to the mainland. There is also a negative effect on runways for both airports due to the capacity constraints. These impacts, however, have to be balanced with the social and economic benefits that each regional inhabitant derives from the subsidy in terms of improvement of their mobility for any purpose.
Subsidizing air mobility for Canary Island residents may have an unforeseen impact on regional air carrier route development and this could exacerbate congestion in airports that operate near to their maximum threshold. Reginal routes often require the use of small aircraft such as those from the ATR (Avions de Transport Régional) family. These aircraft types have [some specific characteristics related to its time performance. If airports manage a large proportion of ATR aircrafts, one of their main activities, such as landing and taking off operations (LTO), may become congested, and affect airport capacity. Air carrier economies might be negatively affected because of delays in airport operations. For instance, air carriers’ fuel costs might rise due to aircraft’s increased LTO time. This paper seeks to analyze the impact of regional aviation route development for the Canary airport network; specifically, the effect that it has on airport capacity and air carrier economies.