Economic and geographic factors of development of air transport and accessibility of passenger air transportation in the Republic of Belarus
The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of economic and geographical factors in the development of air transport and their impact on the level of accessibility of passenger air transportation in the Republic of Belarus for the period from 2005 to 2017. The relevance of the study of the air transport development factors in Belarus is due to the geographical specificity of the country and the lack of domestic research on similar subjects in recent decades. On the basis of correlation analysis, the authour’s grouping of factors of the development of air transport has been proposed with the identification of the main, secondary and minor, which served as the basis for identifying the differentiation of administrative regions of Belarus by the level of accessibility of passenger air transportation. The results indicate that 40 % of the administrative regions or about 50 % of the population are characterised by limited abilities to consume air transport services, which requires diversification of the number of carriers and more intensive use of the existing air transport infrastructure. Based on this, special attention is paid to the use of the capabilities of regional airports and the potential development of domestic regional air traffic. These proposals will increase the availability of passenger air transportation, which will reduce up to 10 % the share of the population with disabilities in the consumption of air transport services.