engleski

Air Transport Connectivity Model in South East Europe

The doctoral dissertation of Ana Šimecki, B.Sc., under the title Air Transport Connectivity Model in South East Europe (Model povezivosti zračnim prometom u jugoistočnoj Europi) consists of six complementary sections with the accompanying contributions, and the scope of the work matches the thematic scope. Content of the doctoral dissertation has been laid out on 150 pages, including annexes it covers 165 pages. The doctoral dissertation contains 38 figures, 51 tables and 28 graphs. Dissertation contains the following sections: 1. INTRODUCTION 2. ASSESSMENT OF TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND IN THE SOUTH EAST EUROPE 3. VALORISATION OF THE SEETO COMPEHENSIVE NETWORK 4. STATE OF AIR TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH EAST EUROPE 5. AIR TRANSPORT CONNECTIVITY MODEL IN THE SOUTH EAST EUROPE 6. CONCLUSIONS Dissertation additionally includes list of literature cited, lists of figures, tables and graphs. The recent bibliography is specified. The dissertation contains the results of the original scientific research, and it has been conceived in accordance with the methodology of writing scientific works with all the relevant elements. The introductory part of the dissertation contains the arguments and elaboration of the scientific issue, objectives, expected scientific contribution, and the research results, overview of past research and applicative scientific methods, as well as the structural layout of the dissertation. The second section of the dissertation gives an overview of the comprehensive transport development in the European Union and in South East Europe. The comparison of the strategies of the transport development of the European Union and the strategies of the transport development of the countries of South East Europe has been presented in the context of the reviewed TEN-T policy. The third section of the dissertation analyzes the comprehensive transport network in South East Europe (SEETO Comprehensive Network) with special reference to the inland transport branches. The technical and operational characteristics of road and rail networks are elaborated in detail, especially from the aspect of their accessibility to the SEETO network airports. The analyses are supported by the graphical description and presented with the aim of identifying the weaknesses of the existing inland connections, confirming the thesis of comparative advantage of the intra-regional connection by air transport as the main precondition of mobility and regional development. The fourth section of the dissertation is oriented to the analysis of the current situation of air transport in South East Europe. The analysis targeted the network of routes in regular air transport from and to the SEETO transport network airports. This section elaborates in detail the status of the national carriers and the status of the SEETO network airport. Targeted research of multimodal connectivity was carried out on a sample of 136 pair connections of the cities in the region of South East Europe, and the comparative analysis of the connectivity by air, road, and rail transport was performed. The analysis was carried out regarding the transport demand issues, as well as the travel time and costs. The fifth section of the dissertation processes methodologically the approaches to modelling – spatial and temporal ones, and the applicable approach of the target research has been derived to define the basis network configuration depending on the level of spatial and temporal concentrations on the concrete sample of a SEETO network airports. The socio-economic factors (the size of the region, population, distribution and mobility of the population, industrial production) on the one hand, and the factors of market economy (economic activity, transport costs and time, infrastructural and operational standards, trade exchange) on the other hand, have been observed as factors influencing the size and the distribution of the transport demand in the region. In accordance with the results of the carried out research the criteria for the development of the model of connectivity by air transport in South East Europe have been defined. Fuzzy interpretation of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was used for the evaluation of alternatives of air transport connections. The standard Saaty scale for multi-criteria comparison has been fuzzificated for the comparison of the connection pairs in the model. The assignment of the weights to the criteria was carried out following the collected inputs of primary expert group by means of on-line questionnaires, i.e. interview method. The control expert group was used in the methodologically same manner for the validation of the developed model. The research was carried out on a sample of 136 both operative and non-operative air transport connections in the region. The developed model of air transport connectivity in South East Europe was identified 11 non-operative connections of Category 1 in the network of primary airports, and their establishment would ensure intra-regional transport connection as minimal precondition of social and economic cohesion and regional development in South East Europe. In this section of the dissertation the impact assessment has been carried out regarding the implementation of the proposed model for Category 1 of the connections among the primary airports in South East Europe. Also, the development potential of establishing of the Category 2 intra-regional connections was identified. The establishment of the intra-regional air transport operations would comply with the objectives of Single European Sky legislation, especially in the aspects of reducing the length of routes, improving the efficiency of flight and cost efficiency of transport operations, and the rationalization of energy consumption and consequent reduction of negative environmental impact. In the conclusion all the relevant cognitions resulting from the research and the development of the intra-regional air transport connectivity model have been synthesized, and the concrete guidelines have been proposed for its implementation as well as the benefits of the supposed development of the regional transport network of South East Europe.

Air Transport; Connectivity; South East Europe

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