The geography of air freight: connections to U.S. metropolitan economies

Abstract

a b s t r a c tDespite the rapid growth of air freight shipments, much of the existing literature on the geography of air transportation has paid more attention to passenger travel than air freight. The purpose of this paper is to elevate our understanding of air freight by determining which specific variables most influence and shape the geographic distribution of air freight by metropolitan area using stepwise regression analysis. The empirical results suggest a regression model of five independent variables was the most parsimonious solution where the final model accounted for 71.1% of the variation in air freight shipments by metropolitan area (MA). The most important predictor was the traffic shadow effect, where less populated MAs under the traffic shadow of larger MAs tended to generate lower levels of freight. The model also suggested that other key predictors included the employment market share in transportation-shippinglogistics industries, per capita personal income, the number of medical diagnostic and supplier establishments, and above average wages in high technology. Overall, metropolitan markets with diverse and efficient ground support systems, freight forwarders and other transportation services, a more affluent population, an intense agglomeration of medical laboratories and related suppliers, and a well paid skilled workforce engaged in computer systems design and electronic product manufacturing are more likely to ship freight by air.

A case for incorporating logistics services in urban and regional policy: Some insight from US metropolitan areas

“…(2003) and Graham and Sahling (2004) confirm this interpretation. To that can be added airports that specialize in freight movement; Alkaabi and Debbage (2011) found a positive relationship between air freight demand in a metropolitan area and its share of national employment in their defined ‘transport, shipping and logistics’ industries.…”

Air Cargo and Airport Competitiveness

“…costs, reputation, presence of freight forwarders) and could be used to shape and or adjust the airport strategy for air cargo. Fuerst and Gross, 2018;Mayer, 2016;Wong et al, 2016;Bowen, 2012;Boquet, 2009;Gardiner and Ison, 2008;Gardiner et al, 2005a;Gardiner et al, 2005b;Zhang, 2003;Air Transport World, 2002;Noviello et al, 1996;Dennis, 1994;Schwieterman, 1994;O'Kelly, 1986;Harris, 1954 Local O-D demand Boonekamp and Burghouwt, 2017;Kupfer et al, 2016;Bowen, 2012;Alkaabi and Debbage, 2011;Gardiner and Ison, 2008;Cosmas and Martini, 2007;Zhang, 2003;Hall, 2002;Zhang andZhang, 2002 Capacity Adenigbo, 2016;Magalhães et al, 2015;Basso and Zhang, 2010;Madas ans Zografos, 2008;Neiberger, 2008 CARGO MARKET PLACE Presence of freight forwarders Boonekamp and Burghouwt, 2017;Kupfer et al, 2016;Burghouwt et al, 2014;Chu, 2014;Li et al, 2012;Rodrigue, 2012;Tretheway and Andriulaitis, 2010;Yuan et al, 2010;Air Cargo World, 2001 Presence of integrators Malighetti et al, 2016;Struyf, 2016;Onghena, 2013;<...>…”

“…Because of its speed and reliability, typical air cargo goods include pharmaceutical products, electronics, perishable goods (e.g. flowers and fruit), urgent shipments, valuable goods and e-commerce (Alkaabi and Debbage, 2011). Air cargo transport is predicted to grow 3.51% until 2022 (Kupfer et al, 2017), whereas Boeing (2018 and forecasted a yearly growth rate of between 2.3% to 4.9% until 2035.…”

Development of a Cost Forecasting Model for Air Cargo Service Delay Due to Low Visibility

“…Among trading partners, Vietnam grew strongly, and China and Hong Kong topped the list. These three countries accounted for 64% of total cargo exports in South Korea during the period of observation [2][3][4].…”