TAXONOMY OF WORLD AIR TRANSPORT

A methodology for characterizing and classifying countries of the world so that their air transport demand and supply can be evaluated is presented. The study examined the demand and supply of air transport services in relation to the socio-economic, political, demographic, and geographical characteristics of nations. The classification methodology involved all countries of the world and was made possible by the availability of data from various international organizations such as the publications of the United Nations (UN) and the International Civil Aviation organization (ICAO). Various statistical methods including correlation analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis were utilized to process and investigate the resulting database for the countries of the world with developed air transportation system.; Homogeneous groups of countries were identified based on their air transport demand and supply potentials. This provided a better framework for the examination and evaluation of the differences and similarities between countries of the world in the consumption and supply of air transport. Based on stepwise regression procedures, disaggregate air transport models were developed for each group of countries. Results of the model simulation were reasonable and acceptable coefficients of determination were reported for most of the models.