Factors Influencing Nonintegrated Cargo Airlines’ Choice of Airport

The aim of this paper is to identify the primary factors influencing the airport choice of non-integrated cargo airlines within regions. Such airlines, which provide scheduled service on major traffic lanes, are now beginning to grow at a rate related to the integrators, yet there is a significant absence of research on the network configurations and airport selection criteria of these carriers. This paper uses a staged method approach utilizing international postal surveys of non-integrated cargo airlines and airports, together with follow-up interviews and identifies 15 factors which typically influence the decision of which airport to locate. It was found that each of these 15 factors are related to either geography, return or certainty and that ultimately the final decision is profit motivated. These factors are used as an explanation as to why non-integrated carriers prefer major gateway airports in contrast to their integrated counterparts.