Connectivity at Chinese airports: The evolution and drivers

Yahua Zhang, Anming Zhang, Zhenran Zhu, Kun Wang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This study calculates the connectivity of 69 Chinese airports and identifies the underlying drivers of the variation in airport connectivity over a period 2005–2016. Our connectivity model incorporates multiple discount factors including capacity and velocity penalties to correct for the quality of a connection. We find that Chinese airports experienced a great increase in air connectivity over the study period. Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun are far ahead of other airports in terms of overall connectivity and especially so in terms of international connectivity. However, the growth of some tourism cities and small cities has been stagnant and they suffered losses of connectivity at times. Airport competition measured by HHI, average fare, investment in local city's fixed asset investment and airport facilities, macroeconomic conditions, and population are found to be closely associated with an airport's connectivity. We also find that the presence of low-cost carriers is conducive for air connectivity, while HSR has the effect of decreasing airport connectivity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)490-508
Number of pages19
JournalTransportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
Volume103
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Airport connectivity
  • Airport HHI
  • Chinese airports
  • Connectivity drivers

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Transportation
  • Management Science and Operations Research

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Connectivity at Chinese airports: The evolution and drivers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this