2019-03-15T09:29:37Z

2019-03-15

Default License

Aviation environmental impact

masterThesis

Transportation and Environment

free

School of Economics, Business Administration and Legal Studies, MSc in Hospitality and Tourism Management

“We need transportation as reliable as running water.” It is a phrase coming out of Travis Kalanick’s mind, founder of Uber and Red Swoosh, which in fact consists an aptly description of the main purpose of this dissertation. Except underlining the necessity of uninterrupted operation of transportation, what also this work is trying achieve is the sustainable character new technologies are obliged to maintain. Technology of that kind is the aviation related one, which along with its environmental impact will be the under analysis subject. It is easy to get lost between legislative schemes, historic changes and political decisions related to transportation issues. In the first half of the below written paragraphs there is a concentrated description of the so far progress which puts the reader in a position to follow easier the flow of facts and understand specified definitions. Approaching current status of aviation environmental impact and green actions, the second part of the theoretical body analyses the so far implemented and upcoming instruments and measures of mitigating environmental devastation. Targets and plans of states and private bodies are also under discussion in this part. Actions, regulations and freedoms provided to aviation sector excuse the intense growth of the aircrafts traffic and its immediate consequences during the last 30 years. Trends and passengers’ habits or preferences accompany text’s claims to lead the reader to safer conclusions. After all that macroscopic analysis of aviation development and traffic growth, there is a microscopic approach to the subsector of Low Cost Carriers, who tend to change completely the balances in terms of provided services and corresponding price, air traffic and new prospects for transportation. Probably, their operations and dominance- initially in the US and later in European territory concerning almost the half of the travelling population- is the most positive factor in aviation expansion. This exact expansion initiated by the technological progress and new, modernized corporation model, generates questions whether the sector does the best for its own benefit and for the environment as well. Environment is expected to be burdened by aviation sector multiply in the next years. These results are presented to the reader in this part of the dissertation besides with an effort to ask themselves if they need that much of consumption or what their alternatives are. At the last part, there will be a research inducted via questionnaires, distributed via e-mail and social media posts to a random population group, only adults and of an education level of bachelor degree or higher. Vast majority of the participants are frequent travelers and the basic pylons of the questions are testing their correlation with aviation related issues, environmental devastation and personal responsibility as consumers. What is being tested by the research is 5 public opinion about the current green actions of the sector and if it would preferable and viable to seek for alternative solution to other means of transport rather than wait for technological progress to optimize the offered product. There is a statistical analysis of the questions indicating critical thought of the participants in combination with their demographic characteristics concluding to the extraction of some basic statistical results that characterize our sample. Provided answers are also analyzed statistically via Office Excel and there is also a part showing whether there is statistical significance or not between specific characteristics and corresponding answers. The last part of the questionnaire gives the chance to the participant to express personal, unbiased opinion if they should do or have already done what they should as responsible consumers against the environment, in a form of open question. Contents of the next pages have a concrete base of theoretical background sourcing by scientific research, official publications, relative articles in papers and official websites of recognized operators that protect the validity of the claims and opinions expressed.

Mavragani, Eleni

IHU