Social progress is closely intertwined with advancements in transportation infrastructure, akin to the pivotal roles of ports, railways, and highways during the 18th-20th centuries. Airports have emerged as a defining symbol of the 21st century. As specialized zones for human productive activities, airports consist of related infrastructure and equipment, primarily serving aircraft takeoffs and landings, while also representing key focal points in contemporary urban development.
The global distribution of airports contains substantial information:
- On one hand, airport establishment must align with national strategic layouts formulated by civil aviation authorities, while simultaneously considering multiple factors such as natural environmental conditions (terrain, climate, water quality), regional socio-economic development status, and international air route planning.
- On the other hand, the high construction and operational costs of airports, coupled with stringent requirements for passenger flow, logistics volume, and supporting transportation/public infrastructure, reflect the comprehensive economic strength and infrastructure development level of host cities to a significant degree.
Focusing on China, the aviation industry has experienced rapid growth over the past two decades. Currently constructed airports already cover major economically developed regions, generating substantial economic and social benefits. Particularly, core airports with massive operational scales attract and aggregate critical resources including enterprises, capital, logistics, talent, and policy support. These hubs facilitate the emergence of adjacent aerotropolis zones, playing vital roles in regional aviation economic industrial chains.
The airport information dataset developed by CnOpenData comprises two tables: World Airport Data and China Airport Data, containing fields such as airport locations (location), geographic coordinates (经纬度), and administrative divisions (所属省份区域). This comprehensive dataset reveals global and domestic airport distribution patterns.
Temporal Coverage
- China Airport Data: Updated before January 15, 2020
- World Airport Data: Includes all currently existing global airport records
Field Description
China Airport Information Data
World Airport Information Data
Sample Data
China Airport Information Data
World Airport Information Data
Relevant Literature
- Campante, F. and D. Yanagizawa-Drott, 2018, “Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.133, 1395-1458.
- Garrick, B., Vrinda Kadiyali and H. S. Daniel, 2007, “The Impact of Post‐9/11 Airport Security Measures on the Demand for Air Travel”, Journal of Law and Economics, Vol.50, 731-755.
- Smit, H. T. J., 2003, “Infrastructure Investment as a Real Options Game: The Case of European Airport Expansion”, Financial Management, Vol.32, 27-57.
Data Update Frequency
Annual updates