A comparison of indirect connectivity in Chinese airport hubs: 2010 vs. 2015

Airport hubs’ indirect connectivity is important for any aviation network. Indirect connectivity describes the capacity of airport hubs to provide indirect connections over the airline network. As the Chinese aviation industry has experienced development, this paper offers a comparative analysis of indirect connectivity for Chinese airport hubs between 2010 and 2015. We investigate wave-system structures, weighted indirect connectivity (WIC) and indirect connections of the top ten airport hubs in China. In the spatial analysis, this paper surveys the spatial patterns of indirect connections at four important airport hubs. Beijing-Capital airport has strong indirect connectivity worldwide. Pudong and Hongqiao airports worked together to maximize the spatial coverage of Shanghai. Guangzhou-Baiyun airport has sufficient indirect connections across southern China, and it intends to expand its spatial influence into northern cities.     

Connectivity levels and the competitive position of Spanish airports and Iberia’s network rationalization strategy, 2001-2007

This paper examines the connectivity of the Spanish airport system between 2001 and 2007. Over the period, network carriers considerably strengthened the connectivity between Spanish airports and major European hubs. Although OneWorld is still the dominant alliance in Spain, SkyTeam and Star achieved a larger connectivity share through the growth of indirect services provided through their northern European hubs. In addition, the network rationalization strategy of Iberia and its decision to concentrate operations at Madrid-Barajas had important implications for the connectivity of other Spanish airports. Low-cost carriers have boosted direct connectivity from secondary Spanish airports.     

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem with time-definite deliveries

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem is a cost-minimizing hub covering problem where two types of hubs and hub links, accounting for ground and air transportation, are to be established, while ensuring time-definite deliveries. We propose a mixed-integer programming formulation and perform a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on the Turkish network. We show that the locations of airport hubs are less sensitive to the cost parameters compared to the locations of ground hubs and it is possible to improve the service quality at not much additional cost in the resulting multimodal networks. Our methodology provides the means for a detailed trade-off analysis.     

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem with time-definite deliveries

Hierarchical multimodal hub location problem is a cost-minimizing hub covering problem where two types of hubs and hub links, accounting for ground and air transportation, are to be established, while ensuring time-definite deliveries. We propose a mixed-integer programming formulation and perform a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on the Turkish network. We show that the locations of airport hubs are less sensitive to the cost parameters compared to the locations of ground hubs and it is possible to improve the service quality at not much additional cost in the resulting multimodal networks. Our methodology provides the means for a detailed trade-off analysis.     

Is spatial dispersal the dominant trend in air transport development? A global analysis for 2006–2015

The economic performance of a city or region is considered to be intertwined with its air travel capability. It is thus important for planners and stakeholders to understand the changes in the global aviation network. This study investigates the global aviation network, taking 10 years worth's OAG data from the years 2006–2015 and examines whether a spatial dispersal trend dominates the development of the aviation industry. It considers the aviation network at the airport level, and the airport–city level, which may consist of one or more airports. After clarification of the various definitions of concentration, we find that there appears a trend toward a dispersal pattern in the global aviation network at the airport level. On the other hand, there appears a slight concentration at the airport–city level. Besides, there have been some major capacity expansions at airports in the Middle East and East Asia, while the capacities of some traditional hubs in Europe and North America have become increasingly constrained since the 2008 global financial crisis. Furthermore, our study provides further observations consistent with the phenomenon of bypassing of traditional hubs, especially mega-hubs. Competition for passengers among hubs and secondary airports, especially in multi-airport cities, is discussed.     

Air freight hubs in the FedEx system: Analysis of fuel use

This paper provides a data based analysis of FedEx air freighter activities from selected hub locations. The basic idea is that air freighters have a set of range and payload parameters and their corresponding fuel burn depends on weight and distance. Data from 2011 to 12 (FlightAware) are used for 180,000 + flights on origin, destination and aircraft type. The particular aircraft vary widely in payload, but additional parameters may be derived from industry web sites and BTS. The research uses flight activity at hubs such as Memphis and Indianapolis (among others) and computes the aggregate distance flown on specific aircraft. The linkage between the hub and aggregate fuel use (assuming that the out bound flights are allocated to the hub) will give some quantifiable measures of the costs allocated to the hub. The paper examines particular aspects of the air freight system that are especially vulnerable to a spike in the costs of aviation fuel. These observations suggest that traffic to regional air express and air freight hubs is likely to respond in complex ways to fuel costs.     

The role of London airports in providing connectivity for the UK: regional dependence on foreign hubs

In a context of ongoing debate about the future UK aviation policy and its implications for regional economic development, this paper discusses the role of London Heathrow and the South East airports in providing connectivity for the UK, with particular focus on the international markets that originate from regional UK airports. Using an MIDT dataset of worldwide passenger itineraries served by the European airport network during May 2013, we first establish whether London Heathrow can currently be considered the most important hub for the UK, in terms of traffic generation, connectivity, and centrality, while also measuring the dependence of UK regions on foreign airports and airlines to remain connected with the rest of the world. Results show that, despite the competition, London Heathrow benefits from its massive traffic generation to remain the most central gateway for overall UK air transport markets. However, when only regional markets are considered, significant dependence on foreign hubs appears in many destinations, particularly to Asia–Pacific or the BRIC countries where above 80% of passengers use transfer flights. These results fit nicely with the observed trends of seat de-concentration and hub-bypassing in the airline industry. While dependence on foreign hubs can be interpreted as a sign of vulnerability, there is also the argument that bypassing Heathrow allows regional airports to develop new markets and reduce the level of congestion in the London airport system.     

The networkability of cities in the international air passenger flows 1992–2004

A modified social network analysis model was designed in this study for use in the examination of the international air network. By using this model in analyzing the networkability of cities, the connectivity of the air routes was estimated, using the air traffic and the number of air routes. Networkability is the quantitative measurement of the spatial interaction relationships in the international air network. Through this process, this study aims to analyze the structural changes of the global network in 1992 and 2004. As a result, it was observed that London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and New York were class 1 cities that were at the top in both years. Tokyo was included in class 1 in 1992, but not in 2004. Rome, Zurich, Singapore, Los Angeles, and other cities were identified as the class 2 cities in 1992, while Singapore, Tokyo, Madrid, Hong Kong, Bangkok, etc. were identified as the class 2 cities in 2004. These cities occupy the center of the global network, and the class 1 cities are connected to the class 2 cities, which perform the function of hubs in each continent, thus uniting the whole world as one network.     

Germany’s changing airport infrastructure: the prospects for ‘newcomer’ airports attempting market entry

Despite fluctuations for economic or political reasons, the number of passengers and volume of cargo carried by air is growing quickly, leading to a shortage of airport capacity in some European regions with few slots available at some hubs. This problem has accelerated the trend towards an increase in airport capacity for larger aircraft everywhere, a process which started in the UK and is now continuing throughout Europe, especially in Germany. Apart from development at the hubs, however, many small airports have also been enlarged, former military airbases have been converted to civilian use, and new runways are to be built in areas away from centres of population. These changes have occurred within a short period of time. In Germany, the number of available airports with runways over 1800 m will have doubled in a period of 10–15 years.     

Government support to airlines in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper assesses government support measures to the air transport sector following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic from two points of view. First, it explores the factors that shape governments’ willingness to support airlines. This is followed by a discussion on the various types of support that may be provided and how country-specific parameters influence the choice of measures. Second, it analyses the implications of government support in three dimensions relevant to air transport policy: competition and liberalisation, airline ownership and control, and environmental sustainability. The analysis suggests that most governments give a high priority to maintaining air transport connectivity in order to protect economic activity and jobs, in aviation itself and in related sectors such as tourism. The trade-off between ensuring connectivity and maintaining competition after the COVID-19 pandemic is a challenge with several political and economic dimensions. The re-orientation of public policy in the aftermath of the pandemic may limit the relative importance of the policy priorities that shaped the evolution of the air transport sector before the crisis, especially those related to climate change and the environment. The role of government and public authorities at all levels – especially the type and duration of measures affecting transport operations – will be crucial for the future development of the aviation industry.     

石衡沧港城际铁路互联互通方案研究

突出功能定位,发挥路网互联互通作用,是高速铁路互联互通方案研究的关键。在阐述石衡沧港城际铁路互联互通现状的基础上,针对石衡沧港城际铁路客流特点和功能定位,分析石衡沧港城际铁路石家庄铁路枢纽、衡水铁路枢纽、沧州铁路枢纽和黄骅铁路枢纽等互联互通主要节点枢纽,通过衡水、沧州和黄骅铁路枢纽比选方案分析,提出石衡沧港城际铁路在通道中的枢纽方案,为区域连接线、城际铁路在方案互联互通作用提供研究支撑。     

Establishment of air transport undertakings – Towards a more holistic approach

This paper addresses the issue of principal place of business. Principal place of business can be interpreted in various ways in addition to its strict legal meaning in international air law. The term establishment is also relevant because since the Open Skies decisions of the European Court of Justice of 2002, this term has been used, although not reconciled with the existing aviation law regime. The interpretation of these terms is not only an academic exercise; airlines may be able to choose their hubs in relation to the meaning of their principal place of business, and exercise traffic rights from there. The same is true for the interpretation of the term establishment. Since airlines generate about 80% of their revenues from the operation of traffic rights, the choice of criteria for the determination of the term ‘principal place of businesses’ affecting role of airports as hubs under a modernised air law regime. This has practical relevance for the conduct of a future air transport policy.     

Global air travel: toward concentration or dispersal?

The geography of airline passenger movement through the major cities of the world has changed between 1990 and 2000. The change has been at the expense of the very large global cities and major hubs in favour of a group of next largest cities. It has been detected by comparing the shares of total passenger movement through cities in two separate ways, and by exploring changes in the connectivity between cities over a similar time period. The new pattern reflects the use of new aircraft technology, changes in the location of demand for air travel associated with a broadening in the global linkages between cities, new regulatory arrangements and airline corporate strategies. The implications are that the pressures for airport planning will be felt in a new set of cities, although because the share of passenger traffic through the very large global cities is still high they will remain a major focus for airport planning and management action in the immediate future.     

Temporal configurations of European airline networks

The deregulation of the US domestic airline industry resulted in the reconfiguration of airline networks into hub-and-spoke systems. In contrast to the US airlines, airlines in Europe already operated spatially concentrated networks long before deregulation. This concentration at the national home-base was the outcome of bilateral traffic rights designated to the national carrier. With a few exemptions, however, most of these star-shaped networks were not coordinated in time. Transfer opportunities at most national airports only existed by accident. Only airports that were operated as gateways to Europe provided planned connectivity between intercontinental flights and European feeder services. The deregulation of the EU market stimulated a second phase of airline network restructuring. European airlines concentrated their networks by adopting or intensifying wave-system structures (‘banks’ to use the US term) in their flight schedules. This paper investigates these post-deregulation temporal concentrations in European aviation networks. The development and configuration of wave-system structures at European airline hubs is analyzed as well as the resulting transfer opportunities during the 1990s. It is found that a temporal concentration trend exists among European airlines with deregulation resulting in the adoption or intensification of wave-system structures by airlines. These wave-system structures, as well as overall traffic growth, have significantly stimulated the number of indirect hub connections. Airline hubs with wave-system structures generally perform better because of the increased indirect connectivity given the number of direct connections.     

Assessing intercity multimodal choice behavior in a Touristy City: A factor analysis

This paper investigates influential factors in passengers' intercity multimodal choice behaviors in a touristy city. By collecting large individual-level data through a comprehensive field survey that was carried out at the major transportation hubs in Xi'an, China, we studied four travel modes of the surveyed travelers in this touristy city, including air, high-speed rail, traditional passenger train, and express bus. For factor analysis, 12 variables, including not only individual-related attributes but also ticketing methods and mental perceptions, were used as the independent factors after the correlation analysis and collinearity test. The regression relationships between the travel mode choice and the independent variables were studied using Bayesian multinomial logistic regression. The results indicate that those 12 factors have significant and various influences on passengers' mode choices. In particular, travel distance, fare rate, intercity travel time per hundred kilometers, quality of service, accessibility of transportation hubs, and ticketing methods have influential contributions for explaining the choice decision-makings. The findings demystify the effects of several unexplored factors in intercity multimodal travel choice behaviors and shed new light on formulating traffic management strategies for service providers and decision-makers in practice.     

The growth of Arabian airlines from a German perspective – A study of the impacts of new air services to Asia

Airlines from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman have gained significant market shares in international air transport. Traditionally travellers have chosen hubs like Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London or Paris as transfer points for trips to Asia. With the inauguration of non-stop services to places like Abu Dhabi, Doha or Dubai, new choices for air travellers have emerged. We analyse data derived from German air transport statistics on the effects of passenger flows between the airports of Düsseldorf and Hamburg to Asian destinations. They suggest that services introduced by Emirates stimulated passenger demand for Asian destinations, while incumbent hubs do not lose transfer passengers. Regarding travel times and connection quality of routings between secondary airports in Germany and Asian destinations, comparing routings of Emirates Airlines and Lufthansa suggests that due to geographic and scheduling constraints, services via Arabia do not constitute a perfect substitute for time-sensitive passengers.     

An analysis of European low-cost airlines and their networks

The growth of low-cost carriers (LCCs) is currently focused on the Western European market, where they represent the most determining factor in the evolution of airline networks. In this area, they stand for 18% of the total air transport supply according to seats. Limited to short and medium haul flights, networks are not too concentrated (no hubs). They are North–South, and compete with—when they have not replaced—some charter routes. The use of air freedoms beyond the fourth is still limited, but exclusive routes are a frequent phenomenon linked to the option for secondary (urban or regional) airports and/or niches.Finally, low-cost carriers give fresh impetus to point-to-point routes by drawing new networks complementing those of full service network carriers (FSNCs). If no hubs as such can be found in these new networks, significant concentrations characterize the major bases.The geography of low-cost networks is to a large extent the geography of EU air transport liberalization.     

Measuring connectivity in the air freight industry

In this paper, we present an air transport connectivity model for air freight. For the purposes of this paper, connectivity is defined as all possible direct and indirect connections to or from an airport operated by wide-body aircraft, weighted for the quality of the connection in terms of transhipment and in-flight times. Using this model, we analyse the networks of seven European airports. Europe’s largest hub airports carry most air freight thanks to their extensive intercontinental passenger networks, while smaller airports with a strong focus on air freight carry large amounts of cargo on dedicated freighter aircraft. For air freight operations, the catchment area of an airport is much larger than it is for passenger services, as shipments are being trucked to their departure airport throughout all of mainland Europe. Since there are many airports sharing the same catchment area, potential competition for air freight is fierce. We found that well located regions between the four large European airports have access to large air freight networks, whilst regional air freight connectivity in northern and southern parts of Europe is substantially lower.     

Long-haul specialization patterns in European multihub airline networks – An exploratory analysis

Multihub airline networks are an important phenomenon in today's air transport market. An important question is to what extent different factors play a role in the specialization between hubs that are part of the same multihub network. This paper shows that total European market size to a certain long-haul destination and the ratio between the origin-destination market at the primary and the secondary hub are important variables for the role hubs play in the long-haul network of European multihub systems. Large long-haul markets are generally served from both the primary and secondary hub. Multihub carriers serve smaller long-haul markets uniquely from a single hub, depending on the relative advantage in the local origin-destination market. Looking at actual specialization patterns within European multihub networks, we distinguish between complementary multihub systems (such as Amsterdam–Paris CDG), overflow systems (such as Frankfurt–Munich) and regional systems (such as Paris CDG–Lyon).     

Airline hubs in Southeast Asia: national economic development and nodal accessibility

For developing countries, integration into the international airline industry is an important prerequisite to access global flows of money, goods, people, and information. This research examines how patterns of international air transport accessibility changed in Southeast Asia over the period 1979–1997. Particular attention is given to the competition between the major hubs of the region. The paper argues that national governments have used a variety of tools, including airline industry liberalization and airport development, to shape the development of air transport networks. The results of these strategies are assessed using network analysis.