Estimate Spatial Spillover of Airport Operational Efficiency in the YRD Region

Accurate measurement of airport operational efficiency and the analysis of key influencing factors can provide theoretical references for regional airport planning and air traffic management. Many studies are conducted on the operational efficiency of airports in the region, but little attention is paid to their interactions. To fill this gap, this paper measures the operational efficiency of airports in four major cities in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, and on this basis, the spatial Durbin model is used to explore the influencing factors and spillover effects of airport operational efficiency based on two aspects: airport physical characteristics and regional characteristics. The study demonstrates that the efficiency of airport operations has a significant negative spillover effect, indicating that the efficiency of neighboring airports evolves in a competitive interaction. In terms of direct effects, the number of flights, the number of destinations, airport capacity utilization and GDP are important factors affecting airport efficiency. In terms of spillover effects, this paper found that the population and income positively affect the efficiency of local airport operations, while the number of flights and airport capacity utilization effects have negative effects.