Air traffic and the aviation industry have grown rapidly on the Chinese mainland in the two and a half decades since China's open door policy. Accession to the WTO will further stimulate trade and foreign direct investment (FDI), intensifying the demand for air cargo services. It will also open up the Chinese economy to foreign participation in the transportation and logistics sectors, making these sectors more competitive and efficient. This book provides a systematic and comprehensive study of China's air cargo industry as well as its policy evolution. It covers the sources and destinations of air cargo in mainland China and Hong Kong: whence it comes and where it goes to. The major hubs of the transportation network - Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou - are discussed one by one. The virtual aspects of the network at these hubs in terms of IT applications, preparedness, and needs are examined and compared. Though the subject matter of this book is air cargo, there is considerable coverage of the aviation industry and policy on the mainland and Hong Kong. Changes have been happening so fast there are few books and publications that cover them systematically and comprehensively. Readership includes business executives in airfreight companies, airports and airlines, logistics specialists, aviation university lecturers and students.

This book is a political–economic analysis of China’s transformation to become a global aviation power. It aims to identify the driving forces that have shaped China’s ever-evolving international air transport policy direction and goals in the past four decades and further determines how and to what extent these driving forces have shaped China’s considerations and strategies when executing its policy goals through bilateral air services negotiations. The findings reveal that China’s international air transport policymaking has remained in the domain of the country’s aviation regulator, which has enjoyed an exclusivity to exercise its power on the air transport sector. The book argues that China’s international air transport policy direction is in alignment with the country’s overall strategic mission and its goal is set to support the country’s endeavour to realise the “China dream.” It concludes that factors at all levels interact with each other with a far-reaching impact on the country’s policy direction and goal setting; however, these factors are constrained by time and circumstances. The book is a must-read for a wide array of audiences, including, but not limited to, scholars and industry professionals who have an interest in China’s political economy, policymaking, international trade, government behaviour, corporate political activities, air transport, aviation liberalisation, and bilateral negotiations.

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 1.0, Free University of Berlin (Sinologie, Betriebswirtschaftslehre), language: English, abstract: Airfreight is an essential and highly sophisticated part of an economy’s logistics infrastructure and has become one of the most effective tools to explore world markets. The overall trend towards fast reliable delivery and the transformation of China’s economy along with the value chain of production, have boosted demand for air transportation. Due to these developments, the air cargo market, which is still at low levels particularly in domestic transportation, is one of the fastest growing markets in China. The regional focus of this study is on the economic powerhouse of China, the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) located in the southern province of Guangdong including Hong Kong and Macao. In many respects this is one of the most interesting economic entities of the world. Economy and infrastructure are integrated on a very high level. The GPRD features many extremes: its strong economic power, its rapid growth, the highest in China for many years, its population density and last but not least, its aviation landscape. Within radial distance of about 100 km, five international airports are at service, creating the highest airport density in the world. Three of these airports are among China’s top five airports. The clear leader among them is Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), a major hub in Asia featuring the world's highest international air cargo throughput for many years. Its dominant counterpart for domestic traffic is located some 100 km north in the very heart of the PRD, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (GBIA). The strong air cargo business of HKIA, that is largely fed by PRD freight has been watched closely by Mainland administrations. Liberalised air traffic policy in recent years has rapidly expanded China’s own international air cargo traffic. To support this expansive strategy, a completely new airport was built, featuring the biggest and most modern air cargo facilities in China. This new airport might take substantial business away from HKIA in the future. The first part of the study provides an overall introduction to the development of the Chinese aviation and air cargo market. Part 2 describes the macroeconomic structure of Southern China and provides an extensive overview of the GPRD air cargo market. This is followed by a detailed comparative analysis of the two airports in the center of this study and evaluates their future development prospects and the likely development of the region's air cargo landscape.

This book is a political economic analysis of China's transformation to become a global aviation power. It explores how China's policy goal has been achieved and executed through bilateral air services negotiations and how and to what extent the factors have affected the considerations and negotiation outcome. The book aims to identify the driving forces that have shaped China's ever-evolving international air transport policy direction and goals in the past four decades. Using primary data collected from dozens of interviewees and secondary data from various sources, the study examines the time-associated factors and circumstances surrounding a handful rounds of bilateral negotiations between China and its selective counterparts. It further analyses how and to what extent the identified factors have affected China's negotiation strategies and outcome. It argues that China's international air transport policy direction is in alignment with the country's overall strategic mission and its goal is set to support the country's endeavour to realise the "China dream". It concludes that driving forces at international, regional, domestic and institutional levels have an impact on the country's policy direction and goal setting, although these factors are time- and circumstances-constrained. The book is a must read for a wide audience, including but not limited to industry professionals and scholars with an interest in China's political economy, policymaking, international trade, air transport, government behaviour, corporate political activities, aviation liberalisation, and bilateral negotiations.

The second edition of Rigas Doganis' book brings the airline industry story up to date, exploring airline mergers and alliances, price wars, the impact of disasters and the future prospects for the industry as a whole.