Wuhan Ligong Daxue Xuebao (Jiaotong Kexue Yu Gongcheng Ban)/Journal of Wuhan University of Technology (Transportation Science and Engineering)

This paper analyzes aircraft CO2 emissions (in both quantity and intensity per passenger) during landing and take-off cycles at nine different airports in Jiangsu province (China) over a ten-year time span (2007–2016). Our database is unique and very detailed in that we combine flight schedules, with aircraft type (engines) used, and landing-and-take-off cycles. We are particularly interested in how the spatial characteristics impact emission levels. To this end we estimate a CO2 emission model taking the airport characteristics into account, and apply a spatial classification and autocorrelation model to distinguish between different types of airports and systems. Our analysis shows that: (1) there are strong spatial distribution differences between airports due to the patterns of economic development, airport size and aircraft used; (2) most airports have a high reduction potential of CO2 emission, without a loss of economic performance; (3) significant spatial aggregation effects exist and are persistent during most observational years, which indicates a strong Matthew effect of CO2 emission within Jiangsu province; and (4) airport size, linkage to the local economy, and airport location are closely related to aircraft CO2 emissions. We also provide a number of recommendations to improve airport CO2 emissions and add to sustainable development.