Drawing upon hundreds of mainly secondary sources, this book answers three questions: how did air transportation develop in the century after the Wright Brothers, what does it mean to live in an airborne world, and what is the future of aviation in this century?

Like the railroad and the automobile, the airliner has changed the very geography of the societies it serves. Fundamentally, air transportation has helped redefine the scale of human geography by dramatically reducing the cost of distance, both in terms of time and money. The result is what the author terms the ‘airborne world’, meaning all those places dependent upon and transformed by relatively inexpensive air transportation. The Economic Geography of Air Transportation answers three key questions: how did air transportation develop in the century after the Wright Brothers, what does it mean to live in an airborne world, and what is the future of aviation in this century? Examples are drawn from throughout the world. In particular, ample consideration is given to the situation in developing countries, where air transportation is growing rapidly and where, to a considerable degree, the future of the airborne world will be determined. The book weaves together the technological development of aviation, the competition among aircraft manufacturers and their stables of airliners, the deregulation and privatization of the airline industry, the articulation of air passenger and air cargo services in everyday life, and the challenges and controversies surrounding airports. It will be of particular interest to students and researchers in air transport history, the geography of the airline industry, air transport technological development, competition in the commercial aircraft industry, airport development, geography and economics. It will also be useful to professionals working in the airline, airport, and aircraft manufacturing industries.

Like the railroad and the automobile, the airliner has changed the very geography of the societies it serves. Fundamentally, air transportation has helped redefine the scale of human geography by dramatically reducing the cost of distance, both in terms of time and money. The result is what the author terms the ‘airborne world’, meaning all those places dependent upon and transformed by relatively inexpensive air transportation. The Economic Geography of Air Transportation answers three key questions: how did air transportation develop in the century after the Wright Brothers, what does it mean to live in an airborne world, and what is the future of aviation in this century? Examples are drawn from throughout the world. In particular, ample consideration is given to the situation in developing countries, where air transportation is growing rapidly and where, to a considerable degree, the future of the airborne world will be determined. The book weaves together the technological development of aviation, the competition among aircraft manufacturers and their stables of airliners, the deregulation and privatization of the airline industry, the articulation of air passenger and air cargo services in everyday life, and the challenges and controversies surrounding airports. It will be of particular interest to students and researchers in air transport history, the geography of the airline industry, air transport technological development, competition in the commercial aircraft industry, airport development, geography and economics. It will also be useful to professionals working in the airline, airport, and aircraft manufacturing industries.

Making a detailed contribution to geographies of air transport and aeromobility, this book examines the practices and processes that produce particular patterns of air transport provision both regionally and globally. In so doing, it updates the seminal contributions of Eva Taylor (1945), Kenneth Sealy (1957), Brian Graham (1995) and others to the study of air transport geography. Leading scholars in the field offer a unique insight into the key developments that have occurred in the field and the implications that these developments have had for geography, geographers, and global patterns of past, present and future air transport. Although globalization and liberalization processes have greatly expanded the demand for air transport over the last two decades, the industry has experienced several major setbacks due to economic, security, and environmental concerns. Many of these impacts have been much more pronounced in some regions, such as North America and Europe while others, such as Asia-Pacific have not been as adversely affected. Accordingly, there is a clear need to examine these recent economic and geopolitical changes from a geographical perspective given the differentiated pattern of effects from global processes. Addressing this need, this volume opens with thematic chapters covering key topics such as the historical geographies, socio-cultural mobilities, environmental externalities, urban geographies, and sustainability of the global air transport industry, followed by regional analysis of the industry in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Greater Middle East and Africa as well as North America and Europe.

This volume examines the role that airports play in economic development and land values, the regulation and economic efficiency of airports, airport pricing and competition, and the role played by airports in influencing airline operations and networks.

Air transport in the Asia Pacific has undergone significant transformation in the last three decades. What was once a region in the shadow of larger and more prosperous continents such as North America and Europe is now at the forefront of expansion in commercial air-service networks, frequency and capacity, and the overall growth in the contribution of air transport to economies on regional and, in many cases, individual country levels. Despite this, it represents an area that is generally under-represented in the commercial air-transport academic literature. Air Transport in the Asia Pacific seeks to fill this gap. Against this context, the aim of the volume is to offer a contemporary snapshot of current academic research into commercial air transport in the Asia Pacific. While one volume cannot realistically address the complete range of identifiable issues, this book provides timely, specific and research-based studies authored by leading academics and practitioners.

Air Transport: A Tourism Perspective provides rigorous insights into the current complexities, synergies and conflicts within air transportation and tourism, presenting a balanced, comprehensive, contemporary, and global analysis that thoroughly examines the links between theory and practice. The book offers readers a multi-sector, global perspective on the practical implications of the link between air transport and tourism. By using a novel approach, it systematically explores the successive stages of a tourist's trip-investigating reasons for flying, the airport experience, airline industry structures, competition and regulation, and air transportation and destination interrelationships. In addition, the book explores current and salient debates on such issues as the influence of traveling to visit friends and family, the role of charters versus low cost carriers, public subsidies to support airport development, and much more.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Tourism presents a collection of readings that represent an essential and authoritative reference on the state-of-the-art of the interdisciplinary field of tourism studies. Presents a comprehensive and critical overview of tourism studies across the social sciences Introduces emerging topics and reassesses key themes in tourism studies in the light of recent developments Includes 50 newly commissioned essays by leading experts in the social sciences from around the world Contains cutting-edge perspectives on topics that include tourism’s role in globalization, sustainable tourism, and the state’s role in tourism development Sets an agenda for future tourism research and includes a wealth of bibliographic references

This volume brings together some of the leading names in global aviation policy research to provide a unique and ground breaking synthesis of current debates on sustainable aviation.

This Handbook offers an insightful and comprehensive overview from a geographic perspective of the numerous and varied technologies that are shaping the contemporary world. It shows how geography and technology are intimately linked by examining the origins, growth, and impacts of 27 different technologies and highlighting how they influence the structure and spatiality of society.