Intermodal integration in air transportation: status quo, motives and future developments

Soaring air traffic, increasing urban expansion and airports operating at full capacity are reasons that have caused a discussion about improvements in airport landside access systems. One approach to better match customer demands and address airport congestion is to facilitate the intermodal integration of airports. Building on a survey on intermodal passenger air transportation, we elaborate on the current and future situation at major airports. Our findings indicate a high modal concentration and dependence on individual access modes. However, while airport managers intend to reduce the share of these modes, they plan to increase that of high-occupancy airport access modes. We analyze the underlying motives that cause airports to extend their connections to surface infrastructure. In a case study, we assess an intermodal best practice solution for the integration of air and rail.

► An analysis of the status quo of modal split and intermodal integration of 41 major airports. ► Major regional differences between American, Asian, and European Airports. ► Airports aim at increasing the share of high-occupancy access modes. ► Cluster analysis reveals different motives for intermodal integration. ► Provides best practice example for air-rail integration.