Upgraded data envelopment analysis model application for total productivity comparison in major airports of the European Union

Abstract

In order to compare the productivity of airports different scientific approaches are used by various authors. Previous research has shown wide application of the data envelopment analysis (D.E.A.) model for productivity comparison. The D.E.A. model may be used to compare both partial and total factor productivity. However, aggregation of the separate partial factors into a single D.E.A. model is still not sufficiently investigated. The purpose of this paper is to suggest the integration of two methods - DEA and Delphi Expert Panel - to solve this problem. A model was developed and experimentally tested with 15 major European Union airports. The results show that the suggested model could be efficiently used to compare the airports' productivity, which is expressed by a large set of attributes. The main conclusion is that model can be successfully used to compare airports by different criteria through integrating the DEA and Delphi Expert Panel techniques. The model can be used for any set of airports to compare productivity. The research could be useful to airport managers and investors, as well as to researchers in the area of D.E.A. application.