Changes of Air Passenger Distribution Patterns in Japan

Abstract

The number of air passengers in the world has increased from 3, 500 persons in 1919, 90 million in 1959, to 1.07 billion in 1988. In recent years in particular, the number of air passengers and air routes have incresed rapidly, and the development of larger and high-performance aircraft has made steady progress.In this current, studies on air transportation should also advance in geography. The purpose of this study is to clarify the spatial changes in air passenger distribution patterns for about a decade and the causes of these changes in Japan In this study, the main data for air passengers were selected from the Air Passenger Movements Survey in 1975 and in 1983 conducted by the Civil Aviation Bureau Ministry of Transport.Results of this study are summarized as follows.1. Focusing on the spatial distribution of air passengers in Japan, more passengers are generated and absorbed in areas where an airport is located and in large cities near airports. In addition, areas where a lot of passengers are generated and absorbed increse and extend outward from airports for the period from 1975 to 1983.2. Hinterlands of Haneda, Yamagata, Komatsu and Kagoshima airports were selected for the analysis, giving consideration to regional differences of air passenger distribution patterns. In four airport hinterlands, the number of air passengers has increased considerably in areas where airports are located and those around airports for the period from 1975 to 1983. And the trend that the volume of incease in air passengers decreases with increasing distance from airports is observed in common. Areas with a large increase in passengers for business and nonresidents are found in a narrow zone around airports, while areas with a large increase in passengers for leisure and residents are widely spread in each hinterland.3. Canonical correlation analysis was applied to five variables which reveal changes (the volume of increse) in air passengers and 11 variables which indicate changes (the volume of increase) in regional attributes related strongly with distribution patterns of air passengers. As a result, significant canonical variates were obtained for four airport hinterlands. Increase in air passengers is deeply related to the growth of commerce, increases in population and in establishments in areas where air passengers are generated and absorbed. Then in the Haneda Airport hinterland, though increse in residents is strongly related to growth of population, increses in passengers for business and in nonresidents do not show a strong correspondence with increase in population. Increasing regional attributes with increase in passengers for leisure are different from those with increase in other passengers, seen in hinterlands except for the Yamagata Airport hinterland.4. Higher rates of air passenger increase were observed in areas far from airports. Canonical correlation analysis was applied to variables which reveal changes (the rate of increase) in air passengers and variables which indicate changes (the rate of increase) in regional attributes. As a result, significant canonical variates were not obtained, except for the Haneda Airport hinterland. Therefore it is difficult to generalize a relation between them.In areas where passengers for business are dominant, rapid increase in population and growth of commerce was found. Considerable increse in air passengers including passengers for business was also observed in these areas. Large increses in passengers for leisure were observed not only in areas around airports, but in areas distant from airports. Then changes in regional attributes related strongly to changes in passengers for leisure are different by each hinterland.In Japan, studies on air passengers have been accumulated in economics. But the above-mentioned findings could not be obtained from these studies without the view of geography.

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