An analysis for Chinese airport efficiency using weighted variables and adopting CFPR

Abstract

The demands of air services in China have increased significantly in the past few decades due to rapid economic growth. Unsurprisingly, huge pressure has been placed on Chinese airports by the increasing demand for air transportation. Hence, it is meaningful to analyze the efficiency of Chinese airports as well as to determine which factors are most vital to improve airport efficiency. To do so, a widely used methodology, the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is used for measuring efficiency in multiple areas, has been adopted. By means of the DEA method, the efficiency of 27 Chinese airports during the period from 2014 to 2018 was identified. Nine variables, including six input and three output variables, have been identified. Notably, the integration of the fuzzy MCDM method and the DEA approach proved to be optimal for developing a solid and reliable analysis. Therefore, an integrated CFPR/DEA-Window-AR model was developed to evaluate the airport efficiency of Chinese airports. In addition, a comparison of efficiency levels with and without defined criteria weights was conducted. The results proved that considering weights using the CFPR approach is both practical and reliable.