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This study calculates the connectivity of 69 Chinese airports and identifies the underlying drivers of the variation in airport connectivity over a period 2005–2016. Our connectivity model incorporates multiple discount factors including capacity and velocity penalties to correct for the quality of a connection. We find that Chinese airports experienced a great increase in air connectivity over the study period. Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou Baiyun are far ahead of other airports in terms of overall connectivity and especially so in terms of international connectivity. However, the growth of some tourism cities and small cities has been stagnant and they suffered losses of connectivity at times. Airport competition measured by HHI, average fare, investment in local city’s fixed asset investment and airport facilities, macroeconomic conditions, and population are found to be closely associated with an airport’s connectivity. We also find that the presence of low-cost carriers is conducive for air connectivity, while HSR has the effect of decreasing airport connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a series of statistical and regression approaches to investigate city-cluster transport connectivity patterns. Three major city clusters in China are selected for this study, namely, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) economic zones. Our analyses examine three aspects of city-cluster connectivity patterns: (i) connectivity distribution among cities within the city cluster; (ii) dependence of the non-center city on the center city; and (iii) the impact of improved intra-city-cluster rail connectivity on air-connectivity distribution. First, it is found that the BTH has the most concentrated connectivity among the three city clusters, with Beijing clearly dominating the other cities in every kind of connectivity. The connectivity distributions are more balanced in the YRD and PRD. Second, the calculated "survival connectivity" and regression analyses suggest that non-center cities heavily rely on the center city as the hub to develop their network connectivity. Such a "hub-and-spoke system" helps a non-center city improve total connectivity but reduces its direct connectivity to other cities outside the city cluster. Finally, our regression analysis shows that improved intra-city-cluster rail connectivity further deteriorates the air-connectivity disparity within the city cluster, which occurs because the center city benefits more from the upgraded air-HSR (high speed rail) intermodal connectivity because it can attract air passengers from neighboring non-center cities. Relevant policy implications and suggestions are also discussed in the paper. We believe the proposed statistical and regression approaches can be easily applied to examine city-cluster connectivity in other contexts and countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]