Abstract

This paper provides empirical evidence on the role played by air services as improvement in export capability of the Italian manufacturers in Europe. We find that the existence of a direct connection improves the exports of Italian firms, especially when flights are operated by traditional carriers. From the baseline econometric model, it emerges that the export elasticity to direct flights is about 4 per cent. The impact of air accessibility on exports is more pronounced on firms located in Southern Central Italy than on firms located in the Northern part of Italy.