Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA)
Abstract
Istanbul Airport (IGA) is located at the intersection of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, making it one of the largest international airports by passenger traffic volume in the world and a major hub for worldwide transportation routes, from North America to the Asia-Pacific Region. As a result of its geographical location, IGA is an important hub for intercontinental and intra-regional passenger travel, which helps create a significant economic impact through logistics and service exports, as well as Turkey's integration into global commerce. This research investigates the long-run relationship between air passenger traffic at Istanbul Airport and Turkish export activity over the period 2020-2025 using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to analyze monthly time-series data. The analysis shows that there is a statistically significant long-run cointegrating relationship among the variables, and that air passenger traffic, oil prices, exchange rates, and industrial production all have a positive and statistically significant impact on Turkish exports. Accordingly, Istanbul Airport's connectivity provides a measurable, structural contribution to enhancing Turkey's export performance, with important implications for trade policy and aviation infrastructure investment.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Air Transportation and Freight Services
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Early Pub Date
June 15, 2026
Publication Date
June 27, 2026
Submission Date
March 23, 2026
Acceptance Date
May 23, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 10 Number: 2
APA
Sürmen, Y. E. (2026). Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA). Journal of Aviation, 10(2), 353-362. https://doi.org/10.30518/jav.1914047
AMA
1.Sürmen YE. Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA). JAV. 2026;10(2):353-362. doi:10.30518/jav.1914047
Chicago
Sürmen, Yunus Emre. 2026. “Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA)”. Journal of Aviation 10 (2): 353-62. https://doi.org/10.30518/jav.1914047.
EndNote
Sürmen YE (June 1, 2026) Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA). Journal of Aviation 10 2 353–362.
IEEE
[1]Y. E. Sürmen, “Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA)”, JAV, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 353–362, June 2026, doi: 10.30518/jav.1914047.
ISNAD
Sürmen, Yunus Emre. “Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA)”. Journal of Aviation 10/2 (June 1, 2026): 353-362. https://doi.org/10.30518/jav.1914047.
JAMA
1.Sürmen YE. Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA). JAV. 2026;10:353–362.
MLA
Sürmen, Yunus Emre. “Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA)”. Journal of Aviation, vol. 10, no. 2, June 2026, pp. 353-62, doi:10.30518/jav.1914047.
Vancouver
1.Yunus Emre Sürmen. Air Connectivity and International Trade Dynamics: The Case of Istanbul Airport (IGA). JAV. 2026 Jun. 1;10(2):353-62. doi:10.30518/jav.1914047