Memmingen Airport as a Location Factor for the Region: Results of a Business Survey

Airports as transport infrastructure facilities can influence local location, production and investment decisions, and significantly influence regional developments in the economy and employment as a result.

770 companies from 28 districts and independent towns in the vicinity of Memmingen airport were surveyed on their assessment of the regional airport in a non-representative business survey. The response rate to the survey was 30.5% i.e. 235 companies gave their assessments of Memmingen airport.

Among survey participants that regularly use airports, 12% use Memmingen regional airport regularly for business travel. This means that Memmingen airport is equally important to survey participants in the region as Gemany’s biggest airport in Frankfurt am Main. 30% of all companies that responded in the region reported having already used Memmingen airport for business travel. For 21% of survey participants the regional airport has exerted a positive influence on the reach of their business and customer relations. A good third of respondents reported that Memmingen airport has positively influenced the quality of their region as a business location. Out of the region’s companies that rely on qualified foreign workers, around 31% said that flight connections to the regional Memmingen airport had a positive effect on attracting them. 20% of survey participants expect the already approved expansion of Memmingen airport to have a positive effect. Companies that expect the airport expansion to have a positive effect expect improvements in their business and customer relations, in acquiring specialist workers, as well as employment in general.

The survey shows that the importance of Memmingen airport as a location depends on a company’s geographical proximity to the airport. Companies in districts and independent towns close to the airport report that Memmingen airport had stronger positive effects on their company and location than those situated further away from the airport.