中文摘要：

航空地理学是交通地理学的重要组成部分，且是其最年轻的学科分支。本文以中国和欧美主流航空地理学研究为考察对象，从历史演进、技术变革和制度变迁的综合视角将近百年航空地理学的发展历程分为4个阶段：20世纪50年代前的学科起步发展阶段、50—70年代的基础体系建构阶段、80．90年代的理论框架完善阶段以及21世纪以来的理论与实践繁荣阶段。航空地理学传统研究主题包括史志与区域地理总图、机场格局与城镇关联体系、网络结构与组织效应及优化、航空布局与区域发展互动关系、机场布局规划及其影响因素、政策对航空业发展的影响等。近年来，国内外对航空运输地位与作用的重视程度与日俱增，加之航空数据可获得性不断提升，航空网络结构的复杂性、世界（中心）城市、机场体系与航空网络的演化规律与机理、航空系统的可持续发展等问题成为国际研究热点领域。早期，中国航空地理学研究与西方发达国家发展同步，但中期受历史原因的制约而大为滞后；近期，随着经济社会的快速发展，其研究任务与日俱增。国内学界不仅需要完成对20世纪50年代以来西方航空地理学基础理论的引入及实证研究，同时须建立航空地理学学科体系，并积极加入国际前沿性课题研究行列。

英文摘要：

Geography of air transportation is an important part and also a young branch of transportation geogra- phy. Based on the study of air transportation in China, Europe and the US, this paper divided the air transporta- tion research into four stages in terms of evolution process, technique innovation, and institutional change： （1） initial stage before the 1950s, （2） theory foundation stage from the 1950s to the 1970s, （3） theory improvement stage from the 1980s to the 1990s, and （4） theory and practice prosperity stage since the 21st century. The re- search theme of air transportation geography includes several aspects as follows： history records and regional ge- ography study, airport distribution and urban system, network structure and organization effect, the relationship between air transportation organization and regional development, airport planning and its influencing factors, and influence of policies on air industry. Recently, geographers have paid more attention to the development of air transportation as related data are available to the public. The complexity of air transportation network, world （central） city, evolution of the airport system and air transportation network and their development mechanism, and sustainable development of the air transport system are gradually becoming research focuses of international research. In the early stage, China＇ s air transportation research almost kept in the same pace with developed countries but unfortunately lagged behind greatly in the middle stage because of the historical reasons. Recently, more and more scholars have focused in this field with the rapid socio-economic development. Today, Chinese scholars need not only to introduce the fundamental theories since the 1950s and perform case studies, but also to construct the systematic frame of air transportation research. Besides, Chinese scholars are encouraged to con- stitute the academic framework of air transtsportation geography and to loin in international cooperation.