Assessment of technical efficiency and ranking of selected Iranian airports: Stochastic Frontier Analysis

Air transport is an important component of the transportation industry of any country and airports are considered as one of the key inputs of this industry. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the performance and efficiency of airports and take appropriate measures to increase their efficiencies. To that end, in the present study we use stochastic frontier analysis approach to examine the technical efficiency of selected international airports in Iran (i.e. Mehrabad, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Isfahan airports). The findings using the data for the period 2010-2015 show that 98% of the inefficiencies observed in these airports are due to the technical inefficiencies. In addition, none of the airports under study had achieved the complete efficiency and the lowest efficiency is observed in 2015. The results also indicate that Mashhad and Tabriz airports ranked first, with the highest efficiency among the five selected airports. Isfahan and Mehrabad airports ranked second and last, respectively.