Sustainable air operations have become an increasingly important issue in recent years. In this context, various initiatives to reduce pollutant emissions—such as carbon dioxide (CO₂)—in the aviation sector are being considered by regulators, policymakers, and companies. The impact of these initiatives on the efficiency levels of air operations is still being analyzed by different authors.

This article focuses on the efficiency assessment of 13 major Chinese airlines from 2008 to 2015, applying a modified slack-based measurement model to account for CO₂ emissions. The impact of contextual variables related to airline age, fleet composition, stock market governance, ownership type, network size, and whether the airline underwent a prior merger or acquisition process is tested using a robust nonlinear stochastic regression approach.

The findings suggest that sustainability in Chinese air operations depends on a range of economic factors, such as learning curves, economies of scale, technology type, and network management. Policy implications are derived for Chinese airlines.

Researcher: Peter Wanke et al.
Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (FGV EBAPE)

Learn more