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We examine short-haul services offered by the respective 10 largest European and North American carriers in terms of fleet composition, network characteristics, airfare and product attributes. Our cross-business model and cross-continental analysis builds on the index approach developed by Klophaus et al. (2012) to derive a typology of the hybridization among the largest carriers in Europe and North America in short-haul markets. Our results indicate that none of the largest European and North American carriers follows the pure LCC business model in short-haul markets, and all the LCCs in Europe and North America have adopted certain degree of hybrid strategy to offer short-haul services combining business practices traditionally considered typical for FSCs or LCCs. The results also confirm the categorization of most of the carriers labelled as FSCs. In addition, the study provides evidence of further convergence of airline business models in the short-haul market during the last decade. Still there is no standard short-haul business strategy despite common industry standards for some service features. • Our cross-business model and cross-continental study examines airline services in short-haul markets. • Convergence of FSC and LCC short-haul airline services is more pronounced in North America than in Europe. • There is still no standard short-haul business strategy despite some common industry service attributes. • All of the largest LCCs in Europe and North America have adopted a hybrid business strategy. • North American ULCCs deviate more from the LCC business model than non-affiliated European LCCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares productive efficiency for 50 major airports in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America by computing gross total factor productivity (TFP), further analysing TFP by regression models, and then computing ‘residual’ TFP after removing the effects of the factors largely beyond managerial control. The results reveal: larger airports are expected to achieve higher gross TFP because of the economies of scale in airport operations, not necessarily because they are more efficient than smaller airports; airports with a larger percentage of international traffic are expected to have lower gross TFP levels; an airport''s ownership structure does not appear to have any statistically significant effect on its productivity performance; airports with higher passenger satisfaction level does not appear to have lower productivity; an airport that diversify and expand their non-aeronautical activities such as concessions and other commercial services are likely to achieve a higher TFP level; airports with capacity constraints are expected to have a higher TFP level although it will impose delays on aircraft and passengers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]