Cargo Service Dynamics and Service-Oriented Architecture in East Asian Airports

This chapter examines the effects of primary production and key economic factors on the cargo traffic in the East Asian airports between 1999 and 2005. Through econometric and cluster analyses, results in this chapter found a dramatic increase in the relative importance of physical capital to human capital. More specifically, adequate provisions and utilizations of physical facilities in landside operations appear to be more significant driving forces for an airport’s cargo traffic performances compared to those of airside operations. In spite of the greater importance that the East Asia airport industry has attached to cost-effective operations in the recent years, airports may no longer be able to rely on size for a sustainable competitive edge with the reductions in the returns to scale. Meanwhile, there is still a close direct association between a nation’s economic development and the volume of cargo traffic at its airport.