Airports as Critical Infrastructure: The Role of the Transportation-by-Air System for Regional Development and Crisis Management

Regional airports constitute an important precondition for supply chains of goods and public services and particularly those of time-critical transports by air. However, common approaches for estimating the effects of airports on the regional economy have overlooked this essential role. This paper analyzes the interconnected role of a regional airport as a hub of critical infrastructure by applying a holistic system perspective to a Swedish case. Departing from a conceptual model, which was developed with soft systems methodology, the analysis provides novel insight into vital societal functions that are interconnected with aviation. Insights from interviews with stakeholders enrich the system model and thus provide suggestions for further developments of economic models that include the value of critical infrastructure for societal resilience.