Saturday 19 May 2012

Airport Express benchmarking and analysis for CDG Express

Over a period of two years North Star provided expert advice to Vinci Concessions, preferred bidder for the CDG Express service in Paris.

Vinci Concessions requested that North Star provide reports containing benchmarking data on passenger segments including niche markets and the effects of special fares on an Airport Express railway. This was to assist in the validation of modelled assumptions used in the forecasting of the CDG Express. London Express services were used as a benchmark.

The work was undertaken in two phases. The first phase was to provide an initial analysis and presentation of data in a specified format to enable comparison with CDG Express forecasts, or where a mirror of that forecasting parameter was not available, an estimate was provided based on acceptable methodology.

The findings included:

• Modal Share Analysis;
• Segmentation Analysis;
• Distribution amongst fare types; and
• Impact analysis of discounted fares.

The second phase concentrated on how revenue risks are mitigated and to gain insight into how air-rail links operate in practice and how they integrate with the airport and destination terminal. During this phase North Star provided an analysis of the lender’s forecasts and provided advice based on experience and research of successes and challenges in operations.

"We needed benchmarking data on passenger segments including niche markets and the effects of special fares on an airport express railway. We asked North Star to provide this report because they have a unique skill set in the air rail industry and they are a professional team with the sufficient and relevant experience to provide meaningful data. Thanks to North Star’s expert input, we were able to effectively analyse and validate our projections."
Laurent Cavrois, Vinci’s Project Manager for the CDG Express