Air Transport Provision in Remoter Regions

Dr. George Williams was until his retirement in September 2009 Reader in Airline Economics at Cranfield University. With an academic background in Transport Economics, he has extensive international lecturing experience and has written two books and over 50 papers and research reports all exploring the impact of deregulation on the airline industry. In 1998 he was appointed Special Adviser to the UK House of Lords European Communities Committee enquiry into the Commission's proposals to extend its powers to apply existing competition provisions to air services between the EU and third countries. He has led major studies into airline service provision in Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK on behalf of the European Commission, Government departments, regulatory authorities, airlines and airport authorities. Whilst at Cranfield he headed the Centre for Air Transport in Remoter Regions, which organises a bi-annual international Forum devoted to issues concerning air transport provision in Remoter Regions, the most recent of which was held in Bergen in April 2009. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Dr. Svein BrAYthen is a Professor in Transport Economics at Molde University College in Norway, and he is also heading the Department of Transport Research at Molde Research Institute. He graduated with a BSc in Civil Engineering (1979), a BSc in Economics (1985) and a PhD in Transport Economics from NTNU, Norway (2001). His research is mainly within Air Transport Economics, Regional Economics, and Economic Impact Assessment. He has led a number of research projects within these areas. Within air transport, BrAYthen has been responsible for developing the methods to be used in Norway for larger air transport investments and he has also done analyses of the Norwegian STOL airport system as well as of the larger airports.