The Role of Regional Airports in Connectivity and Regional Development

Abstract

This article analyzes the contribution of regional airports in Colombia to the development of the domestic air transport network, and with it, to the connectivity of the regions and their social and economic development. The growth and evolution of Colombian regional airports are supported and driven by a set of public and investment policies, designed exclusively for the air sector and implemented, almost continuously, since the liberalization of the air transport industry in the country in the early 1990s and are still in development. Having said this, this work analyzes how the network of regional airports have been able to develop in two and a half decades through public policies, and later, how these airports have positively impacted connectivity and socioeconomic development in the territories. All this is done through the presentation and analysis of related indicators.