Savings in time and money that the existence of the airport permits represent another economic benefit that resides with the community. Finally, economic benefits also include the intangible effect the airport has on business decisions to locate or remain in a specific area. Business location decisions based on airport availability are intangible and harder to identify and quantify. Unfortunately, these last benefits and the social values are difficult to measure. Economic impact as a whole comprises direct, indirect, and induced impacts.
Direct impact is associated with providers of services at the airport.
The value of direct impact is the sum of all payroll, capital expenditures, operating and maintenance costs, taxes, and fees incurred by every provider of services. Strictly speaking, direct impacts should represent economic activities that would not occur in the absence of the airport. When approaching service providers on the airport with the survey form, it is important to convey to them that you will not provide sensitive financial information from the form to anyone else and that only form totals will be used. It's also best if you make the completion of the form anonymous with no direct reference to the specific business. Indirect impact is associated with the users of airport services.