An Examination of the Interaction Between Modelling and Its Relationship with Construction Kits: Lessons from the Past and for the Future

Construction kits have played a significant part in nurturing the growth and development of the minds and manipulation-based skills of children (and adults) in formal and non-formal education settings. These kits have origins rooted in the representation of the built world and now have a diversity of form and function, including technical versions with moving parts. This article examines some of the historically based ideas that lie behind the role that kits may have in terms of physical modelling. The article traces the transformation of kits from simple bricks and blocks into more complicated pieces for space-filling and achieving the transfer of forces and motion. This transformation occurred during the Victorian era when the influence of the ideas of educationalists and, perhaps rather strangely, exponents of early aviation, played major roles in determining the diversity of forms of construction kit and modelled possibilities that are now to be seen in classrooms and homes. The article ends with a review of some of the lessons from the past and present that will need to be considered in relation to concrete modelling in schools for the future. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

我国航空货运代理企业第三方物流发展模式研究

从传统货代企业与第三方物流的关系分析入手,在深入分析传统货运代理和第三方物流的区别和联系以及航空货代企业发展第三方物流的有利条件与不利条件的基础上,提出了我国航空货代发展第三方物流的可选模式及其具体措施建议。     

Discussion on the Particularity and Countermeasures of the Nongovernmental Aviation Companies＇ Financing Environment

On March 11th 2005, the first flight of nongovernmental aviation company means the situation that state capital controls the whole Chinese civil aviation industry has been broken. The nongovernmental aviation companies must face financing problem during their growing process unavoidably. Moreover, compared with other aviation companies in the world, the financing environment of nongovernmental aviation companies in China is very special. This paper has discussed the particularity of nongovernmental aviation companies＇ financing environment in China, and brought out some advice from the angles of government and nongovernmental aviation companies.     

航空燃油市场的发展趋势

国际航空燃油市场虽然持续供于求，但是中国持续出现需求缺口，我们调研了中国国内航空燃油生产商和分销机构等，采用规范和实证的分析方法，提出了一些重要结论：中国航空燃油生产和供给成本高，资源配置效率有待进一步提高，航空燃油需求继续旺盛，新世纪里的十年几需求缺口可能进一步扩大。     

Flying Australia–Europe via China: A qualitative analysis of the factors affecting travelers' choice of Chinese carriers using online comments data

Recently, Chinese carriers entered the Australia–Europe route, a market currently served by several established airlines. The paper aims to explore and identify the contextual factors affecting the choice of China-based carriers for long-haul travel. The paper's innovation is in the way it uses the online comments made by readers of an aviation news article. In doing so, the paper highlights the advantages and limitations of such a data source and the full range of positive and negative perceptions about Chinese airlines as recorded by potential and actual travelers. This study highlights that in order to understand flight choice, it is worthwhile to consider the conventional itinerary choice factors in the context of the socio-cultural and historical influences. For researchers, the paper provides some evidence that air travelers apply compensatory decision rule in making airline choices. This supports the validity of the assumption of random-utility based choice models used in the study of air travel behavior.     

Restoring tourist confidence and travel intentions after disasters: some insights from a rejoinder to a series of unfortunate events in Malaysian tourism

Many countries face a decline in tourist confidence and reduced travel intentions after disasters. However, Malaysia – a country that experienced a series of aviation tragedies throughout 2014 – encountered an overall increase in inbound tourists and monetary receipts. This article more closely examines the effects of these unfortunate events on Malaysian tourism and identifies several strategic avenues that can contribute to restoring tourist confidence and reigniting tourist interest in travelling to disaster-stricken countries.     

The role of turboprops in China’s growing aviation system

The Chinese aviation system is in a period of rapid growth, with significant growth in second tier and emerging cities. Lower density cities could be well served by regional aircraft, either regional jets or turboprops, which offer different qualities and a different future for Chinese aviation. Turboprops offer a high level of fuel efficiency compared with regional jets which may improve the cost economics for carriers and reduce the air quality and climate impacts of a growing aviation system in a region where air quality and greenhouse gas emissions are a serious concern. However, regional jets are known for their superior quality of service and faster travel speeds. We begin with a spatial analysis of existing Chinese short-haul aviation networks and find that turboprops are deployed in limited number and are dispersed throughout the country. Their limited use, however, is not because of their cost economics. For the existing regional jet network we estimate the trade space of fuel and time for the replacement of regional jets with turboprops and find that all regional jet routes in China would generate savings if replaced with turboprops. We next establish future short-haul aviation routes between new and emerging airports and estimate the likelihood that a turboprop will be used. The finding that the most viable turboprop markets are spatially dispersed through the country validates considering turboprop investment at the state-level as a component of the established Chinese aviation sustainability initiative.     

Productivity efficiency analysis of the airlines in China after deregulation

Using data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index, this paper studies productivity efficiency of various airlines in China after the Chinese government deregulated the aviation industry in 2005. The results show that the productivity efficiency of non-state-owned airlines improves rapidly and eventually exceeds state-owned airlines after the deregulation policy. Among the state-owned airlines, the productivity of the local airlines and their technical changes are better than those of the central airlines.     

Willingness to Pay for Green Products in Air Travel: Ready for Take‐Off?

We examine the willingness to pay (WTP) for green products in air travel. Green products in aviation are supplementary services, which are sold on top of the travel service (e.g. carbon offsets, organic on‐board food). We identify a set of potential green products in aviation and report the preferences for additional airline services of 811 Swiss air travellers using an adaptive choice‐based conjoint survey. We find that 20% of those passengers who are interested in purchasing supplementary services show a considerable WTP for green products. The green segment differs from the regular segment only in terms of behavioural features, not in terms of demographic or socio‐economic characteristics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

应对高铁猛烈冲击,凸显民航竞争优势——新时期民航服务业人才培养的创新思考

高铁来势汹汹,面对严峻的外部环境,民航服务业人才培养更需加大改革力度,围绕民航总局提出的各项举措,确立人才培养的重心和发展方向,提升服务人员综合素质,提高行业总体竞争力,凸显"服务"、"速度"和"安全"三大优势,探索新时期民航服务业人才培养的途径。