The Regional Airports' Problems in the Slovak Republic: The Case Study of Zilina Airport

Abstract

This paper solves the regional airports in the Slovak Republic and the problems they have been facing while focusing on the specific, i.e. 'small regional' airports category (up to 200,000 passengers transported per year). Moreover, the issue of Slovak regional airports' problems is connected mainly to their funding system, which has shown to be insufficient, and the extent of their utilization in relation to their untapped potential. It was proven that small regional airports with an annual throughput under 200,000 passengers are unable to break even and to cover their operational costs as well and thus must be subsidized. Funding of 'small' regional airports can be considered as not only the Slovakian problem, actually it is a broad long-term EU problem and there were several approaches established by the EU related to adjustment of those issues. The current legislation is represented by new Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/1084 thanks to which the state aid at the EU level has been greatly simplified. The paper focuses on the case study of chosen Slovakian small regional airport near Zilina, in Dolný Hričov, which the possibilities of several measures for its revitalization and efficiency improvement are depended on the operational-technical characteristics and position within the region.