Overview
The project aims at creating of a new conception of economic education within the study programme on Air Transport and writing and publishing a complex set of textbooks which would reflect requirements of modern economic management of air enterprises (airlines, airports and providers of air navigation services). The project is ideologically centred on an effort to increase the quality of economic education within the study programme on Air Transport and to improve competitiveness of the Air Transport study programme´s alumni of the Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communication at the University of Žilina at the European labour market in air transport industry.
Funding
Results
The basic project result is seen in the creation of a new concept of economic education in the study programme Air Transport at the Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communication at University of Žilina.
Stemming from the created concept, three university textbooks were written - Economics of air navigation service providers, Economics of airports and Economics of airlines. The textbooks are dedicated for two university subjects - Economics of Air Transport Enterprise 1 and Economics of Air Transport Enterprise 2 (at the master´ s level).
The textbooks cover three main types of enterprises operated within the air transport industry and air services value chain. The textbooks are unique by their complexity, didactics and reflection of integration process in the field of air transport in the EU. The textbooks summarize the best in the class knowledge in the economic management of air enterprises. They provide global coverage of the respective issues informing about differences among world regions. The textbooks contain the possible alternatives of future economic development in air transportation. They confront theoretical approaches and attitudes of main stakeholders against key economic topics in air transport industry. The textbooks contain the list of used and recommended literature after each chapter. In the textbooks, the scientific papers of the project´s investigators were used, two papers of the principal investigator included which were published in foreign scientific journal in 2015 and 2016 (Journal of Air Transport Management - indexed in Current Content database). Moreover, the investigators presented their own original contribution to the development of air transport economic research at workshops and conferences abroad - mainly in Vilnius, Wienn and Amsterdam.
The new concept of economic education for air transport managers and the three textbooks were also presented at several scientific events, particularly at international scientific conference New Trends in Civil Aviation in 2016 in Žilina and ad international scientific conference INAIR 2016 in Wienn. The project's investigators organized a dedicated workshop aimed at the utilisation of textbooks out of university circles, i.e. at practice. in the Slovak Republic. Starting from the academic year 2016/2017, the three-above-mentioned textbooks will be obligatory for the students of study programme Air Transport.
From the didactic point of view, the textbooks are built to: encourage thinking of students, lead students in independent and creative attitudes supported by sound economic arguments, acquire needed managerial competencies which are inevitable for effective management of aviation enterprises and balanced development of air transport industry. The textbooks have positive impacts on economic part of Slovak language. The textbook as the only ones in the world reflect real life of Slovak aviation enterprises (Slovak airports, LPS SR, state enterprise - a provider of air navigation services in the airspace of the Slovak Republik, air carriers operating air services at and from Slovak airports). The textbooks deeply explain economic integration of civil aviation in the European Union what subsequently support students in their comprehension of the process to be competitive at European labour market of air transport managers.