Measuring connectivity in the air freight industry

In this paper, we present an air transport connectivity model for air freight. For the purposes of this paper, connectivity is defined as all possible direct and indirect connections to or from an airport operated by wide-body aircraft, weighted for the quality of the connection in terms of transhipment and in-flight times. Using this model, we analyse the networks of seven European airports. Europe’s largest hub airports carry most air freight thanks to their extensive intercontinental passenger networks, while smaller airports with a strong focus on air freight carry large amounts of cargo on dedicated freighter aircraft. For air freight operations, the catchment area of an airport is much larger than it is for passenger services, as shipments are being trucked to their departure airport throughout all of mainland Europe. Since there are many airports sharing the same catchment area, potential competition for air freight is fierce. We found that well located regions between the four large European airports have access to large air freight networks, whilst regional air freight connectivity in northern and southern parts of Europe is substantially lower.     

Air transportation and urban-economic restructuring: competitive advantage in the US Carolinas

The theoretical agenda of this paper is to bring airports and airline operations more squarely into the mainstream of the urban and regional development literature. The paper examines the spatial and temporal patterns of air passenger flows by airport in the US Carolinas. An emphasis is placed on articulating the linkages that exist between airport operations at the local level, the structural composition of the regional economy, and the competitive strategies of the airline industry. Particular attention was paid to administrative and auxiliary employment levels because it is a knowledge-based producer service that tends to seek out markets that offer high levels of air service connectivity to other places. A major finding in this paper is that those US Carolina airports that experienced significant gains in air passenger volume (e.g., Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham) tended to experience comparable gains in the employment levels of administrative and auxiliary workers, particularly in the manufacturing sector.     

Sizing of processing and holding air terminal facilities for charter passengers using simulation tools

Charter passengers represent a category of airport users that imposes uncommon operating conditions to airport terminal facilities, which, if not anticipated, may result in a low level of service. This is usually the case of airports serving areas of tourist attraction where growth in demand of charter flights has made them the dominant passenger flow. This paper presents a simulation model that enables the investigation of charter passenger effects on air terminal facilities and enables the estimation of the level of service offered. Some of the model’s features can be easily implemented by use of spreadsheets. The paper concludes with a critical assessment of the results arisen in the master plan of two Greek airports where the simulation model was implemented.     

Warehouse location problems for air freight forwarders: a challenge created by the airport relocation

The move of Hong Kong International Airport from the city centre to a suburban area in July 1998 provided sufficient capacity to meet the increasing demand of passenger and air-cargo flows in Hong Kong in the foreseeable future. However, the move has adverse side effects such as causing the readjustment of many existing systems and creating many imminent strategic problems. One of such problems is the warehouse location of freight forwarders: they have to decide whether they should locate their warehouses in the new airport, in current locations, or in new locations somewhere in the city. This paper delineates the results of a survey conducted in the summer of 1997 before the airport was relocated. The survey asked what decisions the freight forwarders had made and how they evaluated some potential warehouse locations. The paper also considers two mathematical models, which explain and predict, respectively, the location pattern of freight forwarder warehouses before and after the relocation of the airport.     

Supply-and-demand models for exploring relationships between smaller airports and neighboring hub airports in the U.S.

Airport passenger leakage is the phenomenon of air passengers choosing to travel longer distances to access more extensive air services offered by airlines at an out-of-region hub (or, substitute) airport, instead of using their local airports. Airport leakage can cause further reduction in services offered by airlines at a local airport, thereby causing even further leakage, and so on, which can significantly impact an airport's role in the growth of the local economy. This paper explores the geographic and operational attributes of local-and-substitute airport pairs in the United States, explicitly accounting for the interactive feedback relationship between passenger volumes and air service characteristics that contribute to the onset, persistence, and exacerbation of airport passenger leakage. A two-stage least squares regression model of air passenger demand at small- and medium-sized airports is first presented, where local passengers may travel by vehicle to larger, out-of-region hub airports. The results confirm that airfare and passenger volume relationships exist between the local and substitute airport pairs included in the dataset, and that lower airfares at the substitute airport have a greater impact on airport choices made by larger travel groups. They also suggest the existence of positive feedback in that if an airport attracts increasingly smaller passenger numbers with fewer air services and fewer air services with fewer passengers, without external intervention airport leakage impacts may be irreversible and exacerbate over time. A conceptual market share equilibrium analysis is used to illustrate the mechanisms of a direct two-way feedback relationship between passenger volumes at a local airport and air service characteristics at both the local and substitute airports. With data, this quantitative framework can help guide airport planners in further assessing and verifying suspected passenger leakage issues at their airport. The results suggest that without intervention, airport leakage impacts may be difficult to reverse; further exacerbating the trend are technological advancements that make driving cheaper and easier (connected and autonomous vehicles). However, the results can also guide planners in choosing the types and degrees of infrastructure investments and airline incentives that may be used to expand or retain air services to attract passengers.     

Improving US airport taxicab services through governance arrangements

Most airports internationally have implemented customer satisfaction programs into their operations to increase non-aeronautical revenues. In the US, taxicabs are an essential airport transport mode given the limited public transport options available. Effective airport taxicab planning efforts can increase airport customer satisfaction levels, as well as facilitate handling increased airport passenger volumes. However, little is known on how US airports have adapted their governance practices from a traditional hierarchical to a network approach in their efforts to undertake airport taxicab planning initiatives since the deregulation of the transportation industry. Data acquired from 51 US hub airports is used to examine their existing taxicab planning practices. The findings offer how US airports can modify governance processes in their airport taxicab planning processes to better support increases in the customer satisfaction levels of airport taxicab patrons.     

The origin–destination airport choice for all-cargo aircraft operations in Europe

In this paper, we analyze the origin–destination airport choice for freighter operations of combination and all-cargo carriers in Europe. First, we discuss the choice process of airlines qualitatively. Next, using a stated choice experiment, we show that the presence of forwarders at an airport is the primary factor in explaining airlines’ choices, especially for airlines serving main airports. For airlines primarily serving regional airports, the possibility for night-time flights is most important. Finally, the presence of passenger operations at an airport is not a significant factor and the level of origin–destination demand is of limited importance.     

Do market-concentrated airports propagate more delays than less concentrated ones? A case study of selected U.S. airports

Airport congestion and widespread passenger discontent with airlines' poor on-time performance have recently led the Federal government to reduce peak-time operations at large airports such as Chicago O'Hare and New York John F. Kennedy. This paper proposes a methodology to compute delay propagation based on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) at a sample of ten U.S. airports in summer 2000, 2007 and 2008. The sampled airports are different in terms of size, location and index of concentration.In this research, a flight is considered to be late if it arrives more than fifteen minutes past its schedule. Delay propagation is defined as the hourly ratio of two amplitudes: the one of late arrivals at a sampled airport to that of late arrivals at the final destinations served from that same sampled airport. The purpose of this study is to determine whether delay propagation differs at market-concentrated airports from less concentrated ones. Based on nonparametric tests and proximity analysis, there is no clear evidence that market-concentrated airports are different from less concentrated ones in terms of propagated delays.     

The effects of use agreements on airport efficiency

Bilateral contracting is integral to the working relationship between airports and airlines. In the U.S., the three common types of airport use agreements are the residual method, the compensatory method, and the hybrid method. Under a residual agreement, the financial risk of the host airport is borne by the signatory airlines, and in return, the signatory airlines pay reduced user fees. Under a compensatory agreement, however, airports bear their own financial risks in the absence of a signatory airline. A hybrid agreement combines the features of residual and compensatory agreements. For example, under a hybrid agreement, airports usually bear their own financial risks in terminal operations while the signatory airlines take over the financial risks in airfield operations. The aim of this paper is to determine whether these three types of business agreements affect airport operational efficiency. Using 2009 to 2016 yearly data of 59 U.S. hub airports, we find that airports with residual-type agreements tend to have lower operational efficiency. This implies that, although under a residual agreement, the signatory airlines pay favorable airport fees and charges, increased airport inefficiency may undercut any potential benefits of the agreement.     

The impact of airport capacity constraints on future growth in the US air transportation system

This paper simulates airline strategic decision making and its impact on passenger demand, flight delays and aircraft emissions. Passenger flows, aircraft operations, flight delays and aircraft emissions are simulated for 22 airports in the US, under three airport capacity scenarios. The simulation results indicate that most system-wide implications for operations and environmental impact seem to be manageable, but local impacts at congested hub airports may be significant. The response of the air transportation system to avoid airports with high delays could significantly impact passenger demand and air traffic for these and directly dependent airports. The simulations also suggest that frequency competition effects could maintain flight frequencies at high levels, preventing a significant shift toward larger aircraft, which would otherwise reduce the impact of the capacity constraints.     

Relevance of airport accessibility and airport competition

Airport accessibility is an important criterion for airport competition. The relevance of airport accessibility and airport competition was studied in this paper based on the panel data collected from nine large airports in Jiangsu province, China from 2005 to 2014. The results showed that the cost of expense, time and fatigue for the arrival at the airport are proposed to quantify levels of fastness, economy and amenity for the passengers to arrive at airport. The airport accessibility is significantly affected by airport passenger traffic and airline frequency. The passenger traffic can be increased by 2% with 1% increase of airport accessibility based on the analysis results of the nine large airports in Jiangsu province.     

Airport classification based on cargo characteristics

Air cargo has received little attention in airport research. In this paper, 114 airports are grouped according to their cargo business characteristics. Applying a hierarchical cluster analysis, the paper uses absolute (cargo tonnage) and relative measures (share of cargo work load units, of freighter movements and of international cargo) to establish the reliance of different airport types and groupings on air cargo. Eight distinct clusters are identified which show clear differences in the characteristics of the sample with regard to cargo activities. Geographic patterns of these airports are also revealed. For example, North American and European airports are characterised by features unique to these regions. Airports that are highly dependent on air cargo tend to benefit from a central location within networks of cargo airlines, while other airports with high cargo volumes generate these as a result of significant belly-capacity of passenger operations. Understanding the heterogeneity of cargo airports is important for future benchmarking studies in this field.     

The appropriate scale of US airport retail activities

Terminal-based retail has been sufficiently successful that many airport operators are considering enlarging their facilities in order to increase revenues. On the basis of data on the retail sales and rental revenues for 75 of the US's most important passenger airports, we demonstrate the significant impact of passenger demography on the volume and nature of airport retail sales. A method is outlined for combining information on the demography of passenger flows with construction costs in order to evaluate appropriate capital investments for terminal retail expansions.     

Future airport terminals: New technologies promise capacity gains

The changing dynamics of passenger processes in future airport terminals resulting from pressures from both the demand and supply side are analyzed in this paper. Short and long term (beyond 2020) developments are studied following technology advances and business plans of airlines and airports. Key technologies affecting the central passenger processing functions include identity management and biometrics, Near Field Communications, Big Data analytics and smartphone applications. A simulation model is developed and used to assess the impact of forthcoming changes on the airport's departure hall. Lisbon Portela airport is used as case study. It is shown that passenger process times at the check-in and security checkpoints are significantly reduced, due to the introduction of passenger facilitation processes, under a range of behavioral, technological and policy uncertainties. The most salient implication of these reductions is the quantified capacity gains in the building which question the need for terminal expansion.     

On load balancing strategies for baggage screening at airports

We study load balancing policies for an airport baggage handling system (BHS). The performance of the screening subsystem is important as it can potentially cause traffic congestion of the whole BHS during peak period. Currently, the round-robin (RR) and the first-available (FA) polices are implemented at airports. This paper presents a simulative approach to evaluate the impact of load balancing policies on the system performance. Using discrete-event simulations, airport practitioners can assess the effectiveness of the policies according to the actual layout of a particular passenger terminal. In addition to the RR and FA, a join-shortest-queue (JSQ) policy is introduced. This scheme can be applied jointly with the RR for daily operations. A case study is presented to illustrate the characteristics of this scheme. Simulation results demonstrate that the RR-JSQ can replace the existing RR-FA for a better balanced load distribution and improve the overall system performance.     

Ratio-based design hour determination for airport passenger terminal facilities

To avoid both over-design and under-sizing of airport passenger terminal facilities such as security checkpoints, the infrastructure is designed for a specifically determined design load. As such, the design load is considered for a short period of time, usually an hour of operation, during which peak, though not necessarily maximum, demand occurs. For strategic planning applications, future design loads can be determined by either fictitious flight schedules or ratio-based models which forecast the relationship between design load and annual demand. This study presents two ratio-based methods which allow the direct determination of design hour loads (DHL) for passenger terminal facilities. The unsaturated DHL model considers the relationship between observed passenger flows in the terminal and aggregated annual demand data. The saturated DHL model includes several operational constraints which limit the actual DHL, such as limitations in the runway system or the fleet mix operating at an airport. Both models are applied to two real-world airports, for which the DHL of the security checkpoint facilities is estimated from large datasets covering multiple years. Results are significant at the 5 % level and suggest that the proposed ratio-based methods are appropriate for airport strategic planning applications.     

Airport traffic and financial performance: a UK and Ireland case study

The aim of this paper is to examine the development of air services at UK and Irish airports since 1998 and to assess the impact on airport financial performance. A sample of 14 medium/small sized UK airports and three Irish airports is used. The traffic analysis shows that low cost carriers have been largely responsible for strong passenger growth and increased passenger load at a number of regional airports. Some of these carriers use established primary and regional airports whilst others seek out small secondary airports. The airports with a high proportion of low cost traffic tend to have lower unit revenues, particularly as regards airport charges, demonstrating their desire to remain price competitive to capture this type of traffic.     

Measuring total factor productivity of airports— an index number approach

There is an increasing trend towards corporatisation and privatisation of airports in an effort to improve performance. However, the normal financial reporting requirements associated with these forms of organisation are not sufficient indicators of the performance of airports since profitability can be more a function of the exercise of market power than a sign of productive efficiency. Also, there are concerns that efforts to regulate the prices charged by airports can result in under-investment and declining service standards. This makes it important to monitor the cost-efficiency, cost-effectiveness and service-effectiveness of airports. There is a growing literature on these topics, but so far there has been little attempt to apply the concepts of total factor productivity to the airport sector. We use a non-parametric index number method to illustrate how such a global measure can be used to investigate the role of disaggregated performance measures that often are very useful to managers and to those monitoring airport operations.     

Segmentation of passenger preferences for using digital technologies at airports in Norway

Airports are increasingly focused on implementing digital technologies at key stages of the airport journey to enhance the passenger experience. However, passengers have different preferences. TwoStep Cluster Analysis is used to reveal the presence of distinct segments according to their preferences. The findings are based on a survey of 6082 passengers at airports in Norway. Three distinct segments are identified: those that prefer traditional manual processes, those that prefer automated technology-based processes, and those that prefer more personalised technology-based processes. Significant differences are revealed for each segment according to passenger and trip characteristics and opinions regarding how the use of digital technologies at airports impact on personal privacy and human dignity. The findings contribute to knowledge on passenger preferences at airports and can help to inform airport decision making.     

The benchmarking of airport performance

This paper examines how benchmarking is being used by airport managers as a means of internal performance comparison and improvement. Drawing on interviews with airport managers and a questionnaire survey of the world's top 200 busiest passenger airports, the paper discusses the nature, prevalence and consequences of current benchmarking practices in airports. The authors also include a review of the literature on airport benchmarking and a discussion of the characteristics and relevance of Best Practice Benchmarking.