Spatial characteristics of aircraft CO2 emissions at different airports: Some evidence from China.

• Performance of airports relates to underlying patterns of economic development, airport size and aircraft used. • Airports have a high reduction potential of CO 2 emission, without a loss of economic performance. • Airport size, location, and linkage to the local economy are closely related to aircraft CO 2 emissions. • Different stakeholders have different impacts on adding to sustainable development. This paper analyzes aircraft CO 2 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 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 CO 2 emission within Jiangsu province; and (4) airport size, linkage to the local economy, and airport location are closely related to aircraft CO 2 emissions. We also provide a number of recommendations to improve airport CO 2 emissions and add to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]