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BITRE | Report 115Analyses undertaken using the constructed dataset include:• in-depth analyses of historical trends in regional aviation• geospatial analyses on the accessibility of air services in regional communities• projections of possible future trends for air traffic movements on regional airroutes• explorations of possible associations between key socio-demographic factors andthe level of access to air services in regional communities.Such information provides insights into which air routes are likely to be sustainablewithin a competitive structure and which are not. Information across time is neededto provide an important basis for examining and coordinating various aviationpolicies and regulations that are currently in place. It is also essential for determiningthe validity and appropriateness of government assistance which may be extended tosome regional communities and not others.1.6 Scope and definitionsConsistent with the definition used in BTRE (2003a), regional air services in this reportrefer to all regular scheduled air services, either to or from non-metropolitan areas.Thus, the scope of this study is limited to all regular scheduled air services 3 :• between metropolitan areas and regional areas; or• between regional areas.Charter operations or other non scheduled passenger air transport services areexcluded.Both metropolitan areas and regional areas are defined according to the AustralianStandard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Structure.The ASGC Remoteness Classification was developed by the Australian Bureau ofStatistics (ABS) to allow for quantitative comparisons between ‘city’ and ‘country’Australia. The difference between ‘city’ and ‘country’ is measured by the physicalaccessibility of a location to goods and services. ABS has adopted Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) as the underlying methodology to determinethe degree of remoteness for each census collection district (CD). The CD is thesmallest geographic unit of the ASGC and it is from this building block that all otherlevels of the classification are aggregated (ABS 2001b).The ASGC Remoteness Classification broadly divides the country into five regiontypes (Figure 1.1). Under this classification, metropolitan areas are categorised underthe major cities class and regional areas constitute the other four classes (that is, innerregional, outer regional, remote and very remote Australia). Table 1.1 shows a list ofairports in major cities based on the ASGC Remoteness Classification from 2001.3. Regular scheduled air services in this study refer to all air services operated to serve public members, for hireor reward and which are conducted in accordance with fixed schedules to and from fixed terminals over specificroutes, with or without intermediate stopping places between terminals.8