Airport low-cost terminals in Vietnam: Using best-worst scaling to identify the salient factors affecting the investment decision

Abstract The low-cost airline or carrier (LCC) sector is flourishing. Building low-cost terminals (LCTs) with only basic terminal facilities is an appropriate solution offered by airports to address the issue of decreasing airport charges of LCCs. Nonetheless, there is a lack of research on the factors that can help decision-makers know whether they should invest in LCTs or not. Therefore, we examine the significant factors influencing the decision-making process of investing in LCTs of airport planners or managers. Based upon the literature, most notably the framework of Government Accountability Office (GAO) (2004) and discussions with aviation experts and academics, we propose a set of 13 factors that have an impact on the decision-making process of investing in LCTs. Balanced incomplete block design (BIBD) and best-worst scaling (BWS) are employed to rank and quantify the relative importance of these 13 factors. Our study adds to the limited research on the essential factors affecting the decision-making process of investing in LCTs. Our findings also enable airport planners or managers and stakeholders to make better decisions when investing in LCTs, thereby maximizing the success of LCTs.