Aeromobilities
Guest Editors:
Peter Adey, Monash University
Weiqiang Lin, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Tina Harris, University of Amsterdam
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny, CY Cergy Paris Université
Kaya Barry, Griffith University
Peter Adey, Monash University
Weiqiang Lin, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Tina Harris, University of Amsterdam
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny, CY Cergy Paris Université
Kaya Barry, Griffith University
Tourism Aeromobilities
Tourism and aeromobility are such bedfellows for international travel - as well as in dominant representations which naturalises their very uneven relationship - it might seem strange to separate them in a title, or to deliberately focus on them in a special issue. While the first flights were bound-up in geopolitical anxieties and hopes, air-travel – particularly with the invention of widebody commercial jets – posed new possibilities for long-distance and international tourist travel to consume places, peoples and cultures. Airlines would play a role in representing tourist destinations using common and simplified national and racial stereotypes and tropes. Air-travel meant new ways to see the world from above, and the strange warping of space and time in the uneven compression of the globe, often through (post)colonial aeromobile networks (Vanspauwen & Sánchez-Fuarros, 2025). Despite their close historical evolution, tourism geographies and aeromobilities are rapidly growing and changing (Adey et al 2024), and the potential to reassess their pasts is also underway.
‘Air transport’, as the remaining Achilles heel of global tourism emissions’ (Sun et al., 2024: 5), is increasingly questioned in some contexts as short haul flights are discouraged, and sometimes even shamed through efforts to govern a transition towards decarbonisation in favour of high-speed rail or night trains, especially for international journeys within Europe and in a period of ‘revaluation’ following the massive crisis in international air-travel during the COVID19 pandemic and the growing concerns articulated around (aviation-driven) overtourism. Erratic, xenophobic, and nationalist presidents have also dampened demand, especially in the removal of countries from visa regimes. In other contexts aviation and tourism have grown almost unabated as emerging and developing economies with growing middle classes have both leisure time and wealth to spend, and in the absence of greener possibilities within and between nations. Climate-change-driven last-chance tourism acts as yet another force driving vacation air-travel and explorations of fragile ecosystems in remote, environmentally and geopolitically sensitive areas such as the Arctic and Antarctic. At the same time, and as we write, missile strikes traded between states have closed airspaces and disrupted commercial flights.
Aeromobility infrastructures have become tourism and destination hotspots in and of themselves in order to enchant weary international travellers as well as local visitors, as much as the journey itself is integral to the tourist experience. If helicopters can excite passengers in the thrill of hovering over a waterfall in Kauai, while hinting at the legacies of American imperialism in Hawaii and Vietnam (Vicuña Gonzalez 2013), the exhaustion of a delayed long-haul charter flight with overtired children speaks to the disaffections and sometimes banalities of tourist aeromobilities too (Crang 2002). Elsewhere, supersonic flights (Boom) and outer space odysseys promise even faster connections, a sense of adventure and exclusive experiences that, likely, only elite tourists can afford. Luxury travel and its normalisation of aviation and far-flung destinations on social media also fuel the desire for their joint consumption (Cohen et al. 2021).
On the flip side, the emergence of low-cost airlines over the last few decades have transformed tourism through cheaper point-to-point travel targeted at the mass market. While this has meant travellers arriving sometimes in remote and poorly serviced airports, airports have almost always been destinations for local and regional leisure practices for those wishing to delight in the technological aspirations of air-travel. Consequently, air-travel has also shaped the kinds of ‘tourist’ stereotypes and tropes, of, first, the sleek, mobile and Westernised ideals of tourist bodies on the move, but later on also those of the growing middle classes in Japan, China, Indonesia, Brazil and other ‘emerging’ markets. Despite calls for increased accessibility and equity in airport spaces and on-board aircraft, the drive for slimmed-down operations and staffing means that air-travel is still highly inaccessible for people with disabilities. Air-travel has of course served different destinations at different moments of the year for different passengers to reach destinations for different kinds of tourism which might centre on urban culture, including architecture, cuisine and history; skiing and Alpine leisure pursuits, of course beaches, sea and sex tourism; religion; music festivals; medical treatment; gambling and night-time economies; literature, and especially film – consider the famous Air New Zealand campaign promoting tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand through the Lord of the Rings films.
‘Air transport’, as the remaining Achilles heel of global tourism emissions’ (Sun et al., 2024: 5), is increasingly questioned in some contexts as short haul flights are discouraged, and sometimes even shamed through efforts to govern a transition towards decarbonisation in favour of high-speed rail or night trains, especially for international journeys within Europe and in a period of ‘revaluation’ following the massive crisis in international air-travel during the COVID19 pandemic and the growing concerns articulated around (aviation-driven) overtourism. Erratic, xenophobic, and nationalist presidents have also dampened demand, especially in the removal of countries from visa regimes. In other contexts aviation and tourism have grown almost unabated as emerging and developing economies with growing middle classes have both leisure time and wealth to spend, and in the absence of greener possibilities within and between nations. Climate-change-driven last-chance tourism acts as yet another force driving vacation air-travel and explorations of fragile ecosystems in remote, environmentally and geopolitically sensitive areas such as the Arctic and Antarctic. At the same time, and as we write, missile strikes traded between states have closed airspaces and disrupted commercial flights.
Aeromobility infrastructures have become tourism and destination hotspots in and of themselves in order to enchant weary international travellers as well as local visitors, as much as the journey itself is integral to the tourist experience. If helicopters can excite passengers in the thrill of hovering over a waterfall in Kauai, while hinting at the legacies of American imperialism in Hawaii and Vietnam (Vicuña Gonzalez 2013), the exhaustion of a delayed long-haul charter flight with overtired children speaks to the disaffections and sometimes banalities of tourist aeromobilities too (Crang 2002). Elsewhere, supersonic flights (Boom) and outer space odysseys promise even faster connections, a sense of adventure and exclusive experiences that, likely, only elite tourists can afford. Luxury travel and its normalisation of aviation and far-flung destinations on social media also fuel the desire for their joint consumption (Cohen et al. 2021).
On the flip side, the emergence of low-cost airlines over the last few decades have transformed tourism through cheaper point-to-point travel targeted at the mass market. While this has meant travellers arriving sometimes in remote and poorly serviced airports, airports have almost always been destinations for local and regional leisure practices for those wishing to delight in the technological aspirations of air-travel. Consequently, air-travel has also shaped the kinds of ‘tourist’ stereotypes and tropes, of, first, the sleek, mobile and Westernised ideals of tourist bodies on the move, but later on also those of the growing middle classes in Japan, China, Indonesia, Brazil and other ‘emerging’ markets. Despite calls for increased accessibility and equity in airport spaces and on-board aircraft, the drive for slimmed-down operations and staffing means that air-travel is still highly inaccessible for people with disabilities. Air-travel has of course served different destinations at different moments of the year for different passengers to reach destinations for different kinds of tourism which might centre on urban culture, including architecture, cuisine and history; skiing and Alpine leisure pursuits, of course beaches, sea and sex tourism; religion; music festivals; medical treatment; gambling and night-time economies; literature, and especially film – consider the famous Air New Zealand campaign promoting tourism in Aotearoa New Zealand through the Lord of the Rings films.
How we make sense of these relationships are up for more sustained discussion, especially given the inter-disciplinary perspectives, theories and methods which could be brought to the issue. This special issue seeks then a more explicit attention to tourism and aeromobility and encourages submissions that address the following themes:
· Aviation histories and early tourism
· Aviation, international borders and tourism (visa) regimes;
· Aeromobility infrastructures in tourist practices and circuits;
· Connections between aviation, tourism, (dis)ability, and gender
· Low-cost air-travel, tourist experiences and codependencies between aviation and mass-market tourism industries;
· Stopovers and tourism packages
· Relationships between aeromobilities and the making of destinations;
· Advertisement cultures of aviation and airlines
· Relationships between aeromobilities and overtourism;
· (Trans)local coalitions or initiatives in favour or against the dominance of flying in tourism;
· Emerging or shifting aeromobile cultures of tourism;
· Non-airliner aeromobilities in tourism services and spatialities (private jets, helicopters, paragliding, skydiving, space tourism…);
· Other-than-tourist aeromobilities in tourism industries;
· Conflict and geopolitical disruptions to airspace;
· Aviation-led tourism supply chains (e.g. hotels, experiences, blockchain)
· Loyalty programmes and travel hacking
· Aviation histories and early tourism
· Aviation, international borders and tourism (visa) regimes;
· Aeromobility infrastructures in tourist practices and circuits;
· Connections between aviation, tourism, (dis)ability, and gender
· Low-cost air-travel, tourist experiences and codependencies between aviation and mass-market tourism industries;
· Stopovers and tourism packages
· Relationships between aeromobilities and the making of destinations;
· Advertisement cultures of aviation and airlines
· Relationships between aeromobilities and overtourism;
· (Trans)local coalitions or initiatives in favour or against the dominance of flying in tourism;
· Emerging or shifting aeromobile cultures of tourism;
· Non-airliner aeromobilities in tourism services and spatialities (private jets, helicopters, paragliding, skydiving, space tourism…);
· Other-than-tourist aeromobilities in tourism industries;
· Conflict and geopolitical disruptions to airspace;
· Aviation-led tourism supply chains (e.g. hotels, experiences, blockchain)
· Loyalty programmes and travel hacking
Abstract Submission
Extended abstracts (approximately 1000 words, including references and a minimum of 4 keywords) should be sent to the Guest Editors (peter.adey@monash.edu; k.barry@griffith.edu.au; jean-baptiste.fretigny@cyu.fr; C.H.Harris@uva.nl; weiqiang@nus.edu.sg) by September 1 2025. Affiliations, contact information (including email) should also be included in the abstract.
Authors will be informed of the outcome of the abstract review by September 30 2025. Those invited to submit their contributions will have to submit the full paper no later than April 28 2026. The manuscripts will be subject to the usual peer review process of Tourism Geographies.
Authors will be informed of the outcome of the abstract review by September 30 2025. Those invited to submit their contributions will have to submit the full paper no later than April 28 2026. The manuscripts will be subject to the usual peer review process of Tourism Geographies.
Timeline
Extended abstract submission: September 1 2025
Notification on extended abstracts: September 30 2025
Pre-submission review to guest editors: January 30 2026
Submission of full paper to the journal: April 28 2026
Notification on extended abstracts: September 30 2025
Pre-submission review to guest editors: January 30 2026
Submission of full paper to the journal: April 28 2026
Guest Editor’s Bio
Peter Adey, Monash University
Peter Adey is Professor of Human Geography and head of Human Geography, Anthropology and Development Studies at Monash University. Peter works on the cultures, aesthetics and security of mobility, is a coeditor of the journal Mobilities, and is the author of books such as Mobility (Routledge); Aerial Life: spaces, mobilities, affects (Wiley); and Evacuation: the politics and aesthetics of movement in emergency (Duke UP).
Weiqiang Lin, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Weiqiang Lin is Associate Professor at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore. His work lies at the intersection of mobilities, infrastructure, technology and labour. His recent research has examined labour and automation in four of Asia's biggest international airports, and also extends to post-pandemic futures of digital work, citizenship and mobilities. He is section editor of Transfers (Ideas in Motion) and is currently developing a monograph titled Atmospheric Labour with Temple University Press.
Tina Harris, University of Amsterdam
Tina Harris is Associate Professor of Anthropology and member of the Moving Matters research group at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on aviation, cross-border mobility, infrastructure, and the movement of commodities, particularly in the Himalayas. She is the co-managing editor of Roadsides, the co-chair of the board of the International Institute for Asian Studies, and the author of Geographical Diversions: Tibetan Trade, Global Transactions (University of Georgia Press, 2013).
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny, CY Cergy Paris Université
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny is Associate Professor of Geography at CY Cergy Paris Université and Co-Director of the PLACES research unit. At the crossroads of mobility studies, social and cultural geography as well as urban studies, his research questions large-scale (aero)mobilities, such as migrations, tourism or business travel, and their interrelationships with public spaces, infrastructure and other mobilities in cities. Jean-Baptiste is a co-editor-in-chief of Métropolitiques and has recently published a volume on mobilities and climate policies (Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2024) and edited Geographical Places in Transportation (ISTE-Wiley, forthcoming).
Kaya Barry, Griffith University
Kaya Barry is a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow in the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research at Griffith University, Brisbane - Meanjin, Australia. Her research bridges cultural geography and creative arts, with a focus on experiences of mobility and migration, and the more-than-human entanglements of weather, climate, and visual aesthetics. Kaya is a co-convenor of the Cultural Geography Study Group of the Institute of Australian Geographers, one of the co-founders of the Australian Critical Border Studies network, and the international Art & Mobility network.
Peter Adey is Professor of Human Geography and head of Human Geography, Anthropology and Development Studies at Monash University. Peter works on the cultures, aesthetics and security of mobility, is a coeditor of the journal Mobilities, and is the author of books such as Mobility (Routledge); Aerial Life: spaces, mobilities, affects (Wiley); and Evacuation: the politics and aesthetics of movement in emergency (Duke UP).
Weiqiang Lin, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Weiqiang Lin is Associate Professor at the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore. His work lies at the intersection of mobilities, infrastructure, technology and labour. His recent research has examined labour and automation in four of Asia's biggest international airports, and also extends to post-pandemic futures of digital work, citizenship and mobilities. He is section editor of Transfers (Ideas in Motion) and is currently developing a monograph titled Atmospheric Labour with Temple University Press.
Tina Harris, University of Amsterdam
Tina Harris is Associate Professor of Anthropology and member of the Moving Matters research group at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on aviation, cross-border mobility, infrastructure, and the movement of commodities, particularly in the Himalayas. She is the co-managing editor of Roadsides, the co-chair of the board of the International Institute for Asian Studies, and the author of Geographical Diversions: Tibetan Trade, Global Transactions (University of Georgia Press, 2013).
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny, CY Cergy Paris Université
Jean-Baptiste Frétigny is Associate Professor of Geography at CY Cergy Paris Université and Co-Director of the PLACES research unit. At the crossroads of mobility studies, social and cultural geography as well as urban studies, his research questions large-scale (aero)mobilities, such as migrations, tourism or business travel, and their interrelationships with public spaces, infrastructure and other mobilities in cities. Jean-Baptiste is a co-editor-in-chief of Métropolitiques and has recently published a volume on mobilities and climate policies (Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2024) and edited Geographical Places in Transportation (ISTE-Wiley, forthcoming).
Kaya Barry, Griffith University
Kaya Barry is a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow in the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research at Griffith University, Brisbane - Meanjin, Australia. Her research bridges cultural geography and creative arts, with a focus on experiences of mobility and migration, and the more-than-human entanglements of weather, climate, and visual aesthetics. Kaya is a co-convenor of the Cultural Geography Study Group of the Institute of Australian Geographers, one of the co-founders of the Australian Critical Border Studies network, and the international Art & Mobility network.
References
Adey, P., Lin, W., Barry, K., Harris, T., Frétigny, J. B., & Budd, L. (2024). Now boarding: Towards new geographies of aeromobility. Progress in Human Geography, 48(6), 716-736.
Barr, S, & Shaw, G. (2022). ‘Getting the summer you deserve’: locking-in flying to the tourist experience. In W. Lin & J.-B. Frétigny (Eds.), Low-Cost Aviation: Society, Culture and Environment (pp. 213-231), Elsevier.
Cohen, S., Liu, H., Hanna, P., Hopkins, D., Higham, J., & Gössling, S. (2021). The Rich Kids of Instagram: Luxury Travel, Transport Modes, and Desire. Journal of Travel Research, 61(7), 1479-1494. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211037748
Crang, M. (2002). Between places: producing hubs, flows, and networks. Environment and planning A, 34(4), 569-574.
Cresswell, T. (2021). Valuing mobility in a post COVID-19 world. Mobilities, 16 (1): 51-65.
Sun, YY., Faturay, F., Lenzen, M., Gössling, S., & Higham, J. (2024). Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions. Nature Communications, 15, 10384. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54582-7
Vanspauwen, B. P., & Sánchez-Fuarros, I. (2025). Postcolonial Aeromobilities: Branding, Cultural Governance, and Tourism Imageries. Routledge, Taylor & Francis.
Barr, S, & Shaw, G. (2022). ‘Getting the summer you deserve’: locking-in flying to the tourist experience. In W. Lin & J.-B. Frétigny (Eds.), Low-Cost Aviation: Society, Culture and Environment (pp. 213-231), Elsevier.
Cohen, S., Liu, H., Hanna, P., Hopkins, D., Higham, J., & Gössling, S. (2021). The Rich Kids of Instagram: Luxury Travel, Transport Modes, and Desire. Journal of Travel Research, 61(7), 1479-1494. https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875211037748
Crang, M. (2002). Between places: producing hubs, flows, and networks. Environment and planning A, 34(4), 569-574.
Cresswell, T. (2021). Valuing mobility in a post COVID-19 world. Mobilities, 16 (1): 51-65.
Sun, YY., Faturay, F., Lenzen, M., Gössling, S., & Higham, J. (2024). Drivers of global tourism carbon emissions. Nature Communications, 15, 10384. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54582-7
Vanspauwen, B. P., & Sánchez-Fuarros, I. (2025). Postcolonial Aeromobilities: Branding, Cultural Governance, and Tourism Imageries. Routledge, Taylor & Francis.