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These developments have to be borne in mind when looking at changes in international freight movements between pairs of Pacific Asia's emerging world cities, and movements intended to make greater use of local airports outside their borders.

Statistics from ICAO permit an examination of scheduled air freight interactions and linkages between pairs of world cities for both 1983 and 1990. No distinction is made, however, between different market segments -express (next day guaranteed delivery), comprising small packages that are highly service sensitive, general cargo (second day delivery), comprising large items that tend to be price sensitive, and the traditional 72-hour airport-to-airport service. Nevertheless, information on air freight is available for both calendar and financial years and the data used refer to the year ending 31 March in each year. In analysing the tabulated data the strategy is to assess the degree to which cargo is concentrated on the "top five" airports. Then attention is focused on interpreting maps showing dominant unidirectional flows in excess of 10,000 tonnes. Interest is also centred on the net balance between inward and outward cargoes to determine the prime "sources" and "sinks" in the world's fastest-growing air cargo network.

Table 3.15 Origin and destination of air freight within Pacific Ada, 1983

Source: ICAO (1984).

In 1983, 423,761 tonnes were moved between world cities in Pacific Asia. The "top five" world cities generated almost 79 per cent of the air cargo. Hong Kong was the major generator, with 21 per cent of the total, closely followed by Tokyo (20 per cent) and Taipei (18 per cent), with a marked gap to Bangkok (11 per cent) and Singapore (10 per cent) (table 3.15). Seoul (9 per cent), however, was almost on a par with Singapore and Bangkok. Under 5 per cent were Osaka, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta, with Beijing and Shanghai making a negligible contribution. The "top five" destinations for air freight accounted for 78 per cent of the total. The composition of the "top five," however, was different, with Tokyo the recipient of more than one-quarter of all flows. It was followed by Hong Kong (19 per cent), Singapore (14 per cent), Seoul (12 per cent), and Taipei (7 per cent). The other significant destinations were Osaka (6 per cent), Bangkok (6 per cent), and Manila (5 per cent), and, to a lesser extent, Kuala Lumpur (4 per cent) and Jakarta (1 per cent). The Chinese world cities, however, were insignificant.

Fig. 3.7 Air cargo movements between world cities in Pacific Asia, 1983 (Source: ICAO, 1984)

When the major routes are mapped, the intensity of interaction between Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, and Hong Kong is highlighted - a repetition of the strong linkages evident in container movements in the same year (fig. 3.7). The other world cities tied to the network, albeit by smaller masses of cargo, are Bangkok, Osaka, and Singapore. Beijing, Manila, and Shanghai did not have any connections in excess of 10,000 tonnes. The major "source" in the network was the Taipei-Hong Kong-Bangkok axis. Tokyo figured as the major "sink," followed by Singapore and Seoul.

Table 3.16 Origin and destination of air freight within Pacific Asia, 1990

Source: ICAO (1991).

By 1990, a marked change had occurred, with the total air cargo being handled increasing to almost 1.4 million tonnes - an annual increase of almost 37 per cent (table 3.16). The degree of concentration had lessened as the "top five" accounted for 76 per cent of the total a 3 per cent decline since 1983. Also, there had been changes in the importance of individual world cities, with Seoul (19 per cent) generating most traffic - more than double its share in 1983. It was followed by Hong Kong (17 per cent), Tokyo (16 per cent), Taipei (13 per cent), and Singapore (12 per cent). The only other world city challenging for inclusion in the "top five" was Bangkok (10 per cent) as there was no other centre above 5 per cent. On the other hand, the "top five" destinations were responsible for almost 82 per cent - a 4 per cent increase on the 1983 figure. Tokyo was still the major destination (25 per cent), with Seoul (20 per cent) the nearest challenger followed by Hong Kong (15 per cent), Singapore (13 per cent), and Taipei (9 per cent). Only two other centres exceeded 5 per cent Osaka (6 per cent) and Bangkok (5 per cent). Although currently much of Osaka's cargo is handled in Tokyo, there is no guarantee that after completion of the new Kansai International Airport this cargo will be switched - quality of service, as noted, not distance is the key desideratum.

A graphical analysis of the flows highlights how the network has expanded and deepened, with the most dominant links exceeding 40,000 tonnes (fig. 3.8). These comprise Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, and Tokyo. The Seoul-Tokyo and Hong Kong-Tokyo legs exceeded 93,000 tonnes and the Taipei-Tokyo leg 72,000 tonnes. An analysis of the major "sources" reaffirms the presence of the Bangkok-Hong Kong-Taipei axis, with Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Shanghai as minor "sources." Tokyo is the major "sink," with inflows exceeding outflows by 130,000 tonnes - the other "sinks" (Osaka, Seoul, and Singapore) all being less than 30,000 tonnes.

An examination of changes between 1983 and 1990 highlights the volatility of air freight movements (table 3.17). This analysis pinpoints the faster growth of world cities in South-East Asia. As both Manila and Bangkok failed to keep pace with events, the positive showings were confined to Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and, above all, Singapore, which had ambitions to be a "global cargo city." The net gain among world cities in South-East Asia was at the expense of Taipei, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, although all other centres made positive showings, with Seoul experiencing a massive increase. These results raise the question of which world city should be regarded as the air cargo hub for Pacific Asia - Federal Express is considering Taipei. They also prompt an investigation of air mail patterns to determine whether they are a carbon copy of air freight or differ because of their higher information content. Using the comprehensive set of statistics on air mail in 1983 and 1990, a similar analysis to that of air cargo is undertaken.

International air mail

The growth of courier services and technological changes in telecommunications have brought about some complex problems in international air mail movements between Pacific Asia's world cities. In Japan, for example, international sea mail declined continuously after the late 1970s in both Tokyo and Osaka but air mail grew markedly until the mid-1980s. However, since then air mail trends in Japan have been more or less constant, suggesting alternative forms of international linkages and interactions are being used.

Fig. 3.8 Air cargo movements between world cities in Pacific Asia, 1990 (Source: ICAO, 1991)

In 1983, 21,065 tonnes of air mail were moved in interactions between Pacific Asia's world cities (table 3.18). The "top five" world cities were responsible for 79 per cent of the air mail generated. Tokyo (34 per cent) was the dominant node, followed by Hong Kong (15 per cent), Seoul (12 per cent), Taipei, and Singapore (both 9 per cent). Apart from Manila and Bangkok (both 7 per cent) and Osaka (5 per cent), no other centres made a significant contribution. The degree of concentration among the "top five" destinations was 72 per cent. The major recipient was Tokyo (25 per cent), followed by Manila and Seoul (both 13 per cent), Hong Kong (12 per cent), and Taipei (10 per cent). Singapore and Bangkok (both 8 per cent) challenged for a place in the "top five" ahead of Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta (both 5 per cent). The remaining centres - Osaka, Beijing, and Shanghai - received a negligible amount of air mail.

Table 3.17 Changes in air height tonnage within Pacific Asia, 1983 and 1990

Source. (lCAO, 1984,1991).

An examination of the flow pattern highlighted Tokyo's dominant position (fig. 3.9). Flows above 1,000 tonnes involved the Hong Kong-Tokyo, Tokyo-Seoul and Tokyo-Manila routes. Major "sources" were Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The major "sinks" were Manila, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur, and, to a lesser extent, Beijing, Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul.

Table 3.18 Origin and destination of air mail within Pacific Asia, 1983

Source: ICAO (1484).

In 1990, almost 40,000 tonnes of international air mail were moved between Pacific Asia's world cities - an annual increase of over 12 per cent since 1983. The "top five" world cities generated more than 84 per cent of the cargo. Hong Kong (25 per cent) had usurped Tokyo (23 per cent) as the major generator of air mail, with Seoul (17 per cent), Taipei (10 per cent), and Bangkok (9 per cent) making up the "top five" (table 3.19). The only other significant generators were Manila and Singapore (both 5 per cent) and Osaka (3 per cent). The contributions of Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta (both 1 per cent) and Shanghai and Beijing were negligible. Receipts of international air mail among the world cities were more dispersed, with the "top five" attracting almost 73 per cent. Among the "top five" destinations, Tokyo (27 per cent) maintained its dominant position, followed by Taipei, Manila, and Seoul (all on 12 per cent), Bangkok (9 per cent), Hong Kong (8 per cent), Singapore (7 per cent), Osaka (5 per cent), Jakarta (4 per cent), and Kuala Lumpur (2 per cent). Contributions by Beijing and Shanghai were insignificant.

A consideration of the dominant flows highlighted the intensification of the network and the increase in the number of connections in excess of 500 tonnes (fig. 3.10). The main feature was the deepening of connections between world cities in East Asia. Four of the seven major flows over 1,000 tonnes involved Tokyo. Flows on the Seoul-Tokyo leg superseded Hong Kong-Tokyo as the most heavily trafficked. Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and Shanghai had no major connections. The major "sources" were Hong Kong and Seoul. Manila was the major "sink," followed by Tokyo, Jakarta, Taipei, Singapore, and Osaka, with Beijing, Shanghai, and Bangkok as minor "sinks." The most striking feature compared with the air freight network was the incorporation of Manila into the network - presumably a reflection of Filipinos domiciled in major world cities throughout Pacific Asia.

Fig. 3.9 Air mail movements between world cities in Pacific Asia, 1983 (Source: ICAO, 1984)

Table 3.19 Origin and destination of air mail within Pacific Asia, 1990

Source: ICAO (1991).

An analysis of changes in the generation of international air mail shows a shift of over 3 per cent from world cities in South-East Asia to their counterparts in East Asia (table 3.20). The main negative showings were Singapore - a leader in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - and Manila. These were sufficient to offset the positive showings of Bangkok and Jakarta. In East Asia the principal losses were recorded by Tokyo and Osaka - a reflection of Japan's lead in shifting from an industrial to a post-industrial society. These relative losses were more than offset by major gains in Hong Kong and, to a lesser extent, in Seoul. Are these changes replicated in international passenger transport or is there yet another pattern consistent with the face-to-face transfer of structurally complex information?

Fig. 3.10 Air mail movements between world cities in Pacific Asia, 1990 (Source ICAO, 1991)

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