The potential of meta-analysis and value transfers as part of airport environmental appraisal

Air transportation raises a number of environmental issues that need to be off-set against the benefits that it confers on society. The standard requirement that investments in additional airport capacity go through a rigorous cost–benefit analysis within the context of wider public consultation reflects societal concern about these impacts. The aim of this paper is to suggest that these cost–benefit assessments, and the enquiry procedure itself, may be speeded up and decisions be more consistent if more careful use were made of the knowledge that we already have from previous analysis. It looks at ways in which meta-analysis (the statistical assessment of results from prior studies) can assist in this process.