Kevin O’Connor

Global air travel: toward concentration or dispersal?

Abstract The geography of airline passenger movement through the major cities of the world has changed between 1990 and 2000. The change has been at the expense of the very large global cities and major hubs in favour of a group of next largest cities. It has been detected by comparing the shares of total passenger movement through cities in two separate ways, and by exploring changes in the connectivity between cities over a similar time period. The new pattern reflects the use of new aircraft technology, changes in the location of demand for air travel associated with a broadening in the global linkages between cities, new regulatory arrangements and airline corporate strategies. The implications are that the pressures for airport planning will be felt in a new set of cities, although because the share of passenger traffic through the very large global cities is still high they will remain a major focus for airport planning and management action in the immediate future.

Change in the role of cities in China’s air transport 2005–2015

ABSTRACT Air transport has been expanding rapidly in China over the past decade. That growth corresponded with economic development as well as liberalization in the regulations surrounding airline operations and city and provincial responsibilities for air transport infrastructure. This paper analyses the way the airline industry responded to those changes by identifying the rank of 37 cities on a series of measures of airline operations in 2005 and 2015. Results show that the ranks of the seven leading cities remain unchanged, and only a small change has been recorded on each of the measures at other cities over this time period. The results suggest that there is a level of inertia in the overall geography of China’s air transport. Closer attention to the activity of the airlines, with particular attention to small and large airlines, as well as those within corporate groups will be an important direction in future research.

Shifting patterns and determinants of Asia-pacific tourism to Australia, 1990–2010

ABSTRACT Australia is an increasingly important international holiday destination. Especially travel demand from Asia-Pacific countries has increased, which has led Australian policy-makers to believe the Asia-Pacific region will remain the largest growth market for holiday tourists. This article first presents an overview of the evolution and shifting geographical patterns of Asia-Pacific tourism to Australia between 1990 and 2010, and relies on this to explore the major determinants underlying these changes using a bootstrapped loglinear multiple regression analysis. Results indicate that income (GDP per capita) remains the most important factor explaining tourism demand, albeit that the Australian holiday market is becoming increasingly mature. Distance, as a proxy for travel costs, has large negative elasticity that has slightly increased over time as the effects of air transport liberalization have been off-set by oil prices’. The paper is concluded with an outlook on some possible opportunities and challenges for future tourism demand to Australia.

Foreign direct investment flows and urban dynamics in a developing country: a case study of Korean activities in Suzhou, China

ABSTRACT This paper provides some new perspectives on the way that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) influences local urban growth in recipient cities, via a case study of Korean firms in Suzhou, China. An agglomeration of firms, comprising a part of the global production network of Korean firms, provided employment in knowledge intensive manufacturing which has had significant flow-on effects expressed in the co-location of Korean service activities, and a Korean expatriate community. The paper argues that this outcome has been shaped by particular institutional settings which facilitated the agglomerations of inter-related firms and the creation of higher standards of urban liveability. The interaction of these factors means that the effect of FDI on cities can extend beyond the old image of low-wage production labour and low-cost housing, so creating a new planning agenda for cities in developing countries. The Suzhou experience provides a potential blueprint for local policy and planning responses to magnify the impact of FDI projects.