Comparison of Utilization Efficiency of Airports in Southwest China

This paper empirically analyzes the utilization efficiency of airports in the southwestern region of China. This study analyzes the airport’s utilization efficiency by approaching it from the airport’s infrastructure aspect. This study sets terminal area as input variables along with the number of opened routes. Then, passenger traffic volume, cargo traffic volume, and number of flights are set as output variables. The analysis period was set from 2013 to 2022, and 40 airports were selected for analysis considering consistency and availability of data. The results of the analysis of airport use efficiency for 40 airports in the southwestern region of China can be summarized in the following four points. First, overall, the use efficiency of airports in southwest China is worsening. And even when separating passenger traffic and cargo traffic, the airport’s utilization efficiency is also deteriorating. In particular, when separating passenger traffic and cargo traffic, technological change appears to be lower than efficiency change. This is because the airport’s output scale is not ideal compared to its input. Second, the utilization efficiency of airports in southwest China during the pre-COVID-19 period, i.e., 2013-2019, deteriorated more significantly compared to the 2020-2022 period. And it becomes even more serious when looking at passenger traffic and cargo traffic separately. Third, the Malmquist index when based on passenger traffic volume is higher than the Malmquist index when based on cargo traffic volume. This is because passenger traffic has a relatively more positive impact on airport output than cargo traffic. Fourth, when comparing the size of airports, the utilization efficiency of small-scale airports is relatively higher than that of large-scale airports. Considering the entire analysis period from 2013 to 2022, the utilization efficiency of all airports has deteriorated, but the degree of deterioration at the four large airports is relatively small. However, because this period includes the special situation of COVID-19, completely different results appear when the analysis period is divided. In other words, the degree of deterioration in utilization efficiency of 36 small airports between 2013 and 2019 was relatively smaller than that of the 4 large airports. In particular, in the 2020-2022 period, the utilization efficiency of 36 small airports is actually improving. To sum up, it can be interpreted that the utilization efficiency of small-scale airports is relatively higher than that of large-scale airports. This study sets the number of routes opened at the airport as an important input variable compared to existing research. In particular, this study is different from previous studies in that it constructed data on the number of routes opened by airports by year.