The relationship of airline transportation and airports with macroeconomic performance: The case of Batman Province and Batman Airport

Airports can make a significant contribution to the economic performance of the regions in which they are located. This study tries to determine the relationship between air transport and macroeconomic indicators by explaining the relationship between Batman Airport statistics and economic activities such as trade, enterprises, employment, tourism, population and urbanization of Batman province. In this way, it is aimed to determine the relationship between airline transportation and airports and macroeconomic performance. In the study, passenger, freight and commercial aircraft statistics of Batman Airport's airline transportation are compared with 17 economic indicators of Batman province and the relationships between them are examined using Pearson correlation coefficient.According to the results of the study, there is a significant correlation between Batman Airport statistics and the number of enterprises opened in Batman province, the number of manufacturing industry enterprises and employment, the number of tourism and accommodation in Batman province, urbanization and cultivated agricultural area. In addition, although there is a positive correlation between the airport statistics and important economic indicators such as imports and exports, these correlation coefficients are at low levels. These findings suggest that Batman Airport statistics are correlated with economic activities and macroeconomic performance indicators of Batman province. While Batman Airport has an annual passenger capacity of 2 million passengers, it fails to utilize this capacity to a great extent. In order to increase the efficiency of Batman Airport in the economy of Batman province, it is necessary to increase the activation at the airport, that is, to increase the number of commercial aircraft and flight destinations. The findings of this study are discussed in comparison with the findings in the literature.