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The Choice of Airport, Airline, and Departure Date and Time: Estimating the Demand for Flights

In: The Economics of International Airline Transport

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  • Diego Escobari
  • Cristhian Mellado

Abstract

This chapter estimates the demand for flights in an international air travel market using a unique dataset with detailed information not only on flight choices but also on contemporaneous prices and characteristics of all the alternative non-booked flights. The estimation strategy employs a simple discrete choice random utility model that we use to analyze how choices and its response to prices depend on the departing airport, the identity of the carrier, and the departure date and time. The results show that a 10% increase in prices in a 100-seat aircraft throughout a 100-period selling season decreases quantity demanded by 7.7 seats. We also find that the quantity demanded is more responsive to prices for Delta and American, during morning and evening flights and that the response to prices changes significantly over different departure dates.

Suggested Citation

  • Diego Escobari & Cristhian Mellado, 2014. "The Choice of Airport, Airline, and Departure Date and Time: Estimating the Demand for Flights," Advances in Airline Economics, in: The Economics of International Airline Transport, volume 4, pages 177-198, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:aiaezz:s2212-160920140000004006
    DOI: 10.1108/S2212-160920140000004006
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    Cited by:

    1. Fukushi, Mitsuyoshi & Delgado, Felipe & Raveau, Sebastián & Santos, Bruno F., 2022. "CHAIRS: A choice-based air transport simulator applied to airline competition and revenue management," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 297-315.
    2. Chiou, Yu-Chiun & Liu, Chia-Hsin, 2016. "Advance purchase behaviors of air tickets," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 62-69.
    3. Escobari, Diego, 2017. "Airport, airline and departure time choice and substitution patterns: An empirical analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 198-210.
    4. Chiou, Yu-Chiun & Liu, Chia-Hsin, 2016. "Advance purchase behaviors of air passengers: A continuous logit model," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 474-484.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Airline demand; discrete choice; departure time; posted prices; R41; C25; L93;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C25 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions; Probabilities
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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