ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTION BETWEEN AIR

Air transportation usage and economic activity are interdependent. Air transportation provides employment and enables certain economic activities that depend on the availability of air transportation services. The economy, in turn, drives the demand for air transportation services, resulting in a feedback relationship between the two. The objective of this work is to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between air transportation and economic activity. More specifically, this work seeks to (1) develop a feedback model to describe this relationship and (2) identify factors that stimulate or suppress air transportation development. To achieve these objectives, this work employs an exploratory research methodology that includes literature review, aggregate data, and case study analyses. First, it utilizes data at the individual country level to identify different types of growth patterns between air transportation passengers and GDP for 139 countries. This analysis identifies twenty-two representative countries spanning a range of possible interaction behaviors, geographies, and income categories. The case study analysis at the individual country level describes the air transportation impact for each economy, providing insights that contribute to a better understanding of the interaction between air transportation and economic growth.