Seasonality of flights in China: Spatial heterogeneity and its determinants

Seasonality is an essential issue for service industries but lacks the attention of most transport scholars. To close this gap, this study explored the spatial heterogeneity and determinants of flight seasonality from a supply-side perspective, using the monthly flights of 222 airports in China during 2018 as a sample. The following conclusions were drawn. First, domestic flights in China face seasonality due to the country's vast territory and diverse natural environment. Second, from an airport perspective, seasonality is high in small airports serving remote places and in cities that are tourism destinations. Third, from a route perspective, feeder routes in the air transport network of China face higher seasonality when compared to trunk routes. Finally, airport size and a mix of natural landscape factors shape domestic flight seasonality at the national level. At the local level, most factors (e.g. airport size and temperature) are more evident in the northwest region.