A spatially differentiated modelling approach for analysing regional air freight demand structures

Abstract

Air freight transport plays a vital role in Germany’s foreign trade and contributes to Germany’s position as one of the leading exporting countries worldwide. Although the volume of air freight accounts for only 1.5 percent of the exports measured in tons, the value of air freight exports amounts to 25 percent of Germany’s external trade. In particular, air freight transport forms an important part of logistic concepts and supply chains of commercial and industrial enterprises for the shipment of high-value and time-sensitive goods. However, only relatively little research has been conducted in air transport with regard to the spatial differentiated generation and distribution of air freight compared to the state of research in passenger transport. The main research objective is to gain advanced insights and a profound understanding of the demand generating determinants and structures of air freight on a regional scale and its distribution patterns in the transportation system. In particular, the paper aims to investigate the generation of the disaggregated industry-specific air freight demand in Germany and its interdependencies with the economic activities on a regional level. Building on these findings, the distribution of the regionally generated air freight is explored by modelling the airport choice behaviour of the air freight forwarders using a discrete choice approach.