Brand perceptions of airports using social networks

The management of social media activities by airports is an emerging issue, and existing empirical literature on the measurement of brand perception in the airport industry is lacking. Usually, the measurement of brand perception is carried out by surveys, which are costly and rapidly become outdated. This study employs a newly developed algorithm to infer brand perceptions by mining the social connections of airports. Twitter accounts of 118 airports in the world are analysed by considering three emerging attributes in the airport industry: environment, disability and luxury. The paper shows how it is possible to identify the current positions of airports in the perception of the customers.     

Sustainable airport development with performance evaluation forecasts: A case study of 12 Asian airports

This study evaluates airport performance from 2014 to 2021 with actual and forecasted data to help plan airport sustainability and establish sustainable airport development strategies. Eight Chinese airports (PEK, PVG, CAN, SZX, SHA, XMN, HAK, and HKG) and four representative Asian airports (HND, ICN, SIN, and DEL) are studied. Airport performance is evaluated from the process level (i.e. operational processes providing aeronautical service and financial processes providing commercial service) to the airport level using the Network DEA with actual and forecasted data from the grey model. Results indicate that HKG has been and will be efficient for the entire study period. There is an observed trend of an overall efficiency decrease during the forecast period of 2018–2021. This study classifies operationally efficient airports (PEK, HND, and XMN) and financially efficient airports (HAK, ICN, and DEL). Mainland Chinese airports show significantly higher operational efficiency than financial efficiency, and lower rankings in overall efficiency. It is expected that mainland Chinese airports will soon develop beyond the transportation center, possibly towards the aerotropolis, balancing economic, social, and environmental aspects for sustainable development. This study helps airport management to evaluate sustainable development strategies by assessing current and near future conditions affecting sustainability.     

Does the nature of airport terminal service activities matter? Processing and non-processing service quality,passenger affective image and satisfaction

The surge in air transport demand and the increasingly competitive and volatile market dynamics due to airline deregulation are rapidly transforming airports’ character into multi-service firms and destinations. As a result, service performance measurement of significant systems and their consequent impact on airport users are crucial in creating better airport service design, operation and management for sustainable competitive advantage. The present study 1) assesses the applicability of the Airport Indicators of Passenger Experience (AIPEX) model on Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), and 2) tests a theoretical model that explores the direct and indirect relationships among airport service quality, passenger affective image and satisfaction, as well as the moderating mechanism of passenger type (travel purpose) in these associations. The results indicate that, the AIPEX model fits the PVG context for airport service performance assessment. Also, the theoretical model suggests robust direct associations among processing/non-processing domains and passenger satisfaction, as well as the processing domain and passenger affective image, except non-processing domain and passenger affective image relation. Moreover, significant mediating and moderating effects of passenger affective image and travel purpose on the significant positive direct associations are found. Further, implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Motivations and barriers for corporate social responsibility reporting: Evidence from the airline industry

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a popular topic, as related research saliently suggests that CSR reporting has positive impacts, including improving corporate reputation, achieving employee trust, and enhancing customers' satisfaction. Consequently, in the past few years, companies have increasingly begun to report their CSR initiative outcomes, while the majority struggles to adopt similar initiatives. The research presented herein investigates motivations and barriers for reporting CSR outcomes by providing evidence from airline companies to investigate this disparity. Data collected through survey and confirmatory interviews indicates that respondents believe that government is the most important reader (or customer) of CSR reports. Similar to other industries, CSR reporting's major motivations are related to reputation and brand value, employees' CSR awareness, communication with stakeholders, management systems, management culture, market share, and transparency with the government. An enhanced understanding of related barriers and motivators should assist policymakers and company executives in their strategic decision-making regarding CSR reporting, thereby contributing to advancement toward sustainability.     

Dynamically interdependent business model for airline–airport coexistence

Governments provide various forms of financial support for sustaining unprofitable regional airways, especially when such airways are essential to local livelihoods and economies. However, inefficient provision of subsidies has been subject to worldwide criticism. Therefore, this study examines the load factor guarantee, a dynamically interdependent business model for airline-airport coexistence where an airline and an airport agree on the load factor of a flight, after which either party compensates for any discrepancies between the actual and agreed-upon load factor. The model is calibrated by using 2003–2014 data regarding Noto Airport and All Nippon Airways, and system dynamics are employed to model the dynamic interactions between the two parties. The findings show that successful coexistence between an airline and an airport hinges on the integral management of annual negotiations regarding the target load factor and the monthly demand adjustment of subsidies. In addition, although a subsidy represents a temporary financial loss for an airport, it is an effective way of maintaining long-term, airline–airport coexistence. This model is applicable to unprofitable airways worldwide, and it contributes to their sustainable management.     

Factors influencing social satisfaction and loneliness: a path analysis

Social networks have increasingly received attention in transportation research. However, more subjective aspects of the social network, such as social satisfaction and loneliness hardly received any attention in travel behavior research, whereas these aspects are very important in shaping quality of life. In this study, a path analysis is used to analyze the relationships between personal characteristics, neighborhood characteristics, travel behavior, social interactions, social satisfaction and loneliness. The analyses are based on data collected in Eindhoven and surrounding towns in the Netherlands in a survey among 177 respondents. Results show relationships between mobility and social aspects. They indicate that frequency of walking affects social satisfaction, frequency of cycling affects the number of social interactions and car ownership affects loneliness. Regarding the neighborhood characteristics, interesting results are found as well. The percentage of non-western ethnic minorities in the neighborhood is found to negatively affect social satisfaction, social cohesion is found to affect the number of social interactions and place attachment is found to affect loneliness.     

Leisure travel in Europe and airline business models: A study of regional airports in Great Britain

Tourism and air transport are explicitly linked especially in the context of leisure traffic. This paper highlights this relationship by focusing on the impact of the three main airline business models (traditional scheduled, charter and low-cost) on regional airports using Britain as a case study. The panel data econometric results show that despite the current perception, low cost carriers are not the only ones to contribute significantly to airport aeronautical and non-aeronautical revenue. This observation has important policy implications and calls for transparency in airport subsidies as argued in the conclusion.     

An application of the airport service quality model in South Africa

Passengers’ expectations of service quality at airports are becoming increasingly important as air traffic grows. This research investigated passengers’ perceptions of airport service quality at O.R. Tambo International Airport, South Africa. An existing model placing the concept of passenger expectations central to measuring an airport’s specific level of performance was applied. The results proved significant in terms of the investment made by the airport in staff training and highlighted areas for improvement. The results show that business travellers and leisure travellers have different opinions regarding the importance of services offered by airports and of the level of performance at ORTIA in particular. Significant differences also occur in the perceptions of frequent travellers and infrequent travellers.     

Airport operations and security screening: An examination of social justice

Airports are a crucial part of the United States transportation system and airport officials are continuously challenged to ensure that their operations are secure. A major part of providing airport security is implementing check points where passengers interface with the security screening system. The airlines and airport security administration receive negative publicity when passengers are mistreated at security check points. Further, these organizations spend a lot of time to assess the situation and take corrective actions. This study examines passenger perceived bias and the airport security screening system. Using data from a randomly selected sample of 145 airline passengers, six hypotheses are tested. The hypotheses exam the predictive relationships of control procedures, security personnel training, security personnel professionalism, and security screening systems on passenger perceived bias. Multiple regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses. The research findings indicate that security personnel professionalism is negatively and significantly related to passenger perceived bias. Also, security personnel training and security control procedures are positively and significantly related to security personnel professionalism. Management implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are offered.     

The cost allocation approach of airport service activities

This study suggests a new allocation approach to the joint costs between airports and airlines and proposes estimates for airport service costs. Using correlation coefficients, data envelopment analysis and regression models, the research measures the relation and efficiency between service activity and airport operation costs. The regression outcomes not only reveal a significant management issue concerning the apron fee measurement, but also show that the airport physical activity cost drivers need to be considered with cost and revenue management. The DEA outcomes reflect the expansion of the terminal areas.     

Antecedents and consequences of passenger satisfaction with the airport

There is a growing interest in the passenger experience at the airport. Particularly, the relevance of passenger satisfaction has been emphasized. However, although different research approaches have been used, there is still a gap related to understanding the several relationships between aspects associated with passenger satisfaction with the airport. In this study, a comprehensive conceptual model, which includes the relationships between key antecedents and consequences of passenger satisfaction, was developed and examined. Using structural equation modeling analysis, several findings concerning passenger expectations, airport service quality, switching costs for changing airports, and passenger loyalty towards the airport are stressed.     

Airports’ managerial human capital,ownership, and efficiency

Airport performance differences require a better understanding of the sources of efficiency and competitive advantages. Globalization drives the air transport industry into a more market-orientated business questioning the relationship between managerial decisions and airport performance. Aviation management studies do not consider managerial capabilities and skills since they are intangible exogenous factors that are difficult to assess. In this study, a stochastic frontier analysis is performed accounting for top managers' theoretical knowledge and experience enclosed as exogenous drivers of airports' efficiency. The model analyses 12 Polish airports from 2009 to 2017. The results show a diversity of airports with a different number of passengers as efficient. The top managers' experience, when gained in the same airport, has a positive impact on airports' technical efficiency. Airports having unstable management are more technically inefficient. Independently of the efficiency level, some airports change their management after the national elections, suggesting that managers are chosen by political interest rather than by their specialised knowledge or their prior experience in aviation management. The results suggest that more practical knowledge improve airports’ performance. Airports with a majority of government ownership that are the largest ones increase their efficiency significantly, suggesting that political decisions may be discriminatory in detriment of airports managed by regional and city authorities.     

Responsibilities,recession and the tourism sector: perspectives on CSR among low-fares airlines during the economic downturn in the UK

Responsibility has featured prominently in recent discussions about tourism governance. Nevertheless, research into corporate social responsibility (CSR) among travel and tourism businesses is at a relatively early stage. This paper reports on external stakeholders' perceptions of CSR among low-fares airlines (LFAs) in peripheral regions of the UK in late 2008; that is, during the current global economic downturn. LFAs, their business plans and their ability to contribute towards sustainable development have been the source of much public discourse and media scrutiny in the last decade. This paper does not set out to reopen that debate per se. Rather, it contributes to a deeper understanding of CSR in the tourism sector by arguing for a more nuanced approach to external stakeholders, one which is also informed by primary empirical research from qualitative sources, and which is conceptually informed by the latest thinking from other sectors of economic activity. Important inter-regional variations exist in external stakeholders' perceptions and valorisations of CSR, they are context-specific, and they are not static as their responses to the recent downturn reveal.     

我国运输行业上市公司企业社会责任信息披露情况研究

以我国A股上市交易的运输行业上市公司作为研究对象,运用描述性分析和多元线性回归方法对运输行业上市公司企业社会责任信息披露情况进行研究.研究结果表明:2008年我国运输行业上市公司社会责任信息披露比例较以前年度有显著提高,尤其是采用独立报告模式披露社会责任信息的企业数量显著增加;在企业社会责任信息披露的内容和方式上,节能减排等环境方面的信息披露比例有显著提高,但是在安全生产及债权人等方面的信息披露还有待加强;在公司特征方面,公司规模越大、盈利能力越强的上市公司越倾向于披露更多的企业社会责任信息,而且从地域分布上看,沪、深两地区企业的信息披露状况未显著好于其他地区的企业.     

Intangible resources of competitive advantage: Analysis of 49 Asian airlines across three business models

Without sustainable competitive advantage firms have limited economic reasons to exist and will decline. Competitive advantage concerns the factors which provide competitive strength. This paper is based upon the resource-based view which considers firm resources to be heterogeneous and which believes that firms only have a small bundle of core resources irrespective of their overall performance. This research establishes the role of 36 intangible resources for 49 Asian airlines across three business models: network airlines; low-cost subsidiaries from network airlines; and low-cost carriers. It uses the VRIN framework which examines whether resources are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. Research participants distribute points between their chosen seven resources according to their perceived role in firm performance. Resources which meet all four requirements of VRIN are considered core competences and sources of sustained advantage. Across all 49 Asian airlines, the top-three most important resources of advantage are slots, brand, and product/service reputation. While these core resources are predictable, they have not previously been proven within the context of airlines, let alone geographically and by airline model. Results show that the core bundle of resources vary for each model, which helps to explain the difference in performance across models, and that some resources which were expected to be high-ranking, such as organisational culture and customer focus, were not.     

Measuring airports’ operating efficiency: a summary of the 2003 ATRS global airport benchmarking report

This paper provides a partial summary of the 2003 ATRS (Air Transport Research Society) Global Airport Benchmarking Report which uses the annual data for 2000–2001. The objective of the ATRS benchmarking report is to measure and compare the performance of several important aspects of airport management and operation: productivity and efficiency, unit costs and cost competitiveness, financial results. The report also examines the relationships between various performance measures and airport characteristics in order to better understand the observed differences in airport performance. This particular paper extracted from the benchmarking report focuses on measuring and comparing operating efficiency performance of the world’s major airports. In particular, the paper presents the results on the airports’ Variable Factor Productivities (VFP) after removing the effects of the variables beyond managerial control. In the process, it identifies the effects of various factors influencing airport’s VFP, and computes a ’residual’ VFP index as an indicator for airports’ operations efficiency.     

Institutional design and governance of airport regulators: The case of Latin America

This paper offers a cross-country assessment of the governance of airport regulators in Latin America. The analysis links the institutional design of airport regulators, whether in the form of independent regulatory agencies or government departments, to their overall governance. It examines four dimensions of regulatory governance: autonomy, transparency, accountability, and bureaucratic quality. Independent regulatory agencies in the Latin American airport sector seem to provide a better framework for transparency and bureaucratic quality than government departments. It is not conclusively found, however, that independent regulatory agencies contribute to a more autonomous decision-making or to an enhanced accountability of regulators to other branches of government and airport users. Overall, governance indicators of airport regulators in Latin America are well below the threshold that defines good governance.     

跨境电商视角下机场航空物流发展对策探析

我国跨境电子商务发展迅速,业务需求不断攀升,为航空物流企业未来发展增添动力,机场正在成为跨境电商物流中的重要环节。基于我国航空跨境电商物流发展现状,梳理机场跨境电商物流业务模式,分析机场跨境电商物流存在问题,进一步提出完善机场跨境电商货运设施建设、提高机场跨境电商清关能力、推进空铁联运和“卡车航班”、积极构建跨境电商信息服务平台、优化国际货运航班时刻资源等对策,以更好促进机场业务模式转变,对提高机场综合竞争力和完善现代物流体系具有重要意义。     

Impact of sustainable management policies on tourism companies' performance: the case of the metropolitan region of Madrid

The adoption of sustainable management practices is booming among service companies, whether due to pressure exerted by external agents or the internal perception that not being aligned with sustainability distances companies from clients and puts companies' long-term prospects at risk. However, few studies have examined the combined effect of implementing environmental management practices and corporate social responsibility practices in the tourism sector. By analysing two surveys conducted with the managers of 370 hotels and 176 restaurants and using structural equations, this study concludes that sustainability practices have a direct and significant impact on the company's competitiveness and on the companies' financial results. However, a separate study of the two surveys shows significant differences between the two analysed groups. This article suggests that despite operating in the same sector, hotels and restaurants behave differently regarding sustainability practices, and they achieve significantly different results in their implementation. In addition, by focusing on the tourism industry, a highly competitive sector, this analysis sheds light on whether investing in sustainability is a good strategy for companies to differentiate themselves and survive in complex sectors.     

Airports’ role as logistics centers in humanitarian supply chains: A surge capacity management perspective

The purpose of this study is to investigate the key factors of airport logistics surge capacity and the relationships between these elements. The findings show that successful airport surge capacity management is closely related to prioritizing the flights and operational activities; considering the influx of local people to airports and local infrastructure capacity in the planning phase; developing suitable methods to encourage people to take part in surge operations; providing uninterrupted communication in and out of airport. In view of the above-stated findings this study suggests that airports can meet the surge demand through systematic capacity planning of the existing and additional human, supply, system and space elements by considering experienced or anticipated capacity shortages in disaster conditions.