考虑换乘费用的城市公共交通票价优化

换乘所产生的附加费用,如时间和票价等,导致配流影响因素产生变化,如果沿用传统方式将降低预测精度和可靠性。通过引入换乘次数和方式等因子计算出行等待、乘车、换乘及风险评估预留时间等,定义广义出行费用与计算方法;建立双层规划模型求解最优票价,最后通过算例分析弹性出行需求、换乘费用、票价之间的关系。计算结果表明,换乘费用对出行需求的影响小于票价优化对出行需求的影响,优化票价随换乘费用增加而加速降低,为公共交通票价优化提供研究依据。     

Airport competition - Regional airports losing ground to main airports

Regional airports in Norway are losing market shares to nearby main airports on flights to the national capital, Oslo, and on international travel via Oslo. Travellers are willing to spend several hours extra driving to a larger airport in order to take advantage of lower fares and more convenient airline services. Traffic leakage from regional airports is high when the service from the regional airport is indirect and fare differences are large. Public service obligation tenders (PSO) set maximum fares on the regional legs, but do not cover through travel from regional airports which involve commercial legs. Traffic leakage is particularly evident in the leisure segment. Leakage levels tend to increase as competition is intensified at main airports, but the evidence is rather mixed. Logistic curves of airport market shares have proven to be useful when comparing spatial variations in leakage levels.     

Homogeneous service with heterogeneous products: Relationships among airline ticket fares and purchase fences

A fare table derived from homogeneous service is essential for revenue management applications in the airline industry. Restrictions or so-called fences are usually regarded as a useful tool to differentiate homogeneous seat service. Nevertheless, the relationships among fares and fences are not yet clear. This study aims to investigate passengers’ preferences on the choice of ticket alternatives describing by fares and fences and using Taiwan domestic air travel as an example. Regarding the attributes that an airline ticket may be attached such as departure time, booking time, ticket validity, changing fee, refund and fare, stated preference questionnaires are developed with multiple hypothetical scenarios for respondents to select in the experiment. 398 valid samples are collected for the logit model analysis. With the use of mixed logit model to accommodate both passengers’ heterogeneity and also the issue of relevant alternatives in the experiment, the results show statistical significance of all applied attributes with correct signs. In addition, passengers possess different attitudes on the fence of booking time, ticket validity, changing fee, and fare. Willingness-to-pay of each fence is further calculated to ultimately generate a fare table based on the combination of fences for practice use.     

The relationship between air travel behaviour and the key life stages of having children and entering retirement

The airline industry sets fares in the knowledge that market segments behave differently in response to pricing changes. Traditional market segments, typically split into business and leisure travellers, can be developed further through the examination of the influence that life stage exerts upon air travel choices, particularly for leisure trips. Life stage can be defined as a specific, optional event. The two key life stages of having children and entering retirement are examined in this paper in relation to individual air travel behaviour, in order to determine the primary characteristics of the associated market segments. The paper is based on a series of household air travel surveys and focus groups. Findings show the distinct characteristics of family air travel, such as higher air fare sensitivity, as well as in-group variations due to factors such as the age of the child (or children). Retirement is also shown to impact upon air travel, affecting individuals in different ways. Some in retirement take advantage of greater time availability and fly more frequently; others will cut back, say due to health problems. Aviation industry implications, both in terms of surface access to airports and regional airport provision, are also presented.     

Airline alliances—who benefits?

The advent of global airline alliances in the 1980s gave rise to concerns that increased monopoly power of major carriers would lead to large and sustained producer surpluses. These global alliances now enjoy dominant market shares in the industry. This review examines some 15 years of alliance experience and finds no conclusive evidence that alliance membership has yielded monopoly profits to the airlines. Improvements in terms of load factors and general productivity levels have, for the most part, been accompanied by fare reductions of similar magnitude, resulting in only modest gains to the carriers.     

Impacts of free concessionary travel: Case study of an English rural region

Concessionary fares are offered to those aged 60 and over for bus travel in Britain. This study examines the effects of replacing a half-fare concession in England by free travel in April 2006. Aggregate data are used to examine trends; in addition, a large sample was obtained of pass holders in the Salisbury area, which enables a clear distinction to be drawn between increased travel by those who already held a half-fare pass, and travel by those taking up the pass for the first time. These data are then used to derive fare elasticities, and compare the characteristics of new passholders and those previously holding a half-fare pass. Comparisons are made with studies elsewhere. Overall policy implications are reviewed.     

How do carriers price connecting flights? Evidence from intercontinental flights from Europe

In civil aviation, hub-and-spoke (HS) networks are used by all large carriers. The importance of this system implies that many travelers use connecting flights. Nevertheless, only scarce knowledge is available on price formation of these trips. In this paper, we focus on the fares of connecting intercontinental flights, with one stop and at least one competing direct flight. We develop a simple model of a HS network, with imperfect substitutability between direct and indirect flights and Cournot competition on every route in the network. We test the model empirically, using reported fares for flights from seven European origins, including the five major airports in Europe, to five non-European destinations. We find that the fare of a connecting flight can be expressed as the weighted average of the fare of its direct competitor, the travel times of both flights its costs and the monetary value of the utility attached to the trip. The weight of the direct fare decreases as product diversity increases.     

Measuring the economic effects of bilateral liberalization air transport

This paper develops a model that measures the equilibrium changes and welfare consequences of liberalizing the fare, entry and service levels of a bilateral air transport agreement. The model also provides measures of the distribution of gains and losses across the consumers and airlines of each country involved in the bilateral as well as those of any third foreign country that may be affected through traffic diversion as a result of changes in the bilateral. In our model, service quality aspects are treated in the framework of hedonic price theory by specifying the quality-adjusted price (quantity) as a multiplication of the observed price (quantity) by the reciprocal quality index function (the quality index function). The model is illustrated using the Canada–Japan bilateral to assess alternative combinations of changes to fare, frequency and entry restrictions. We report the outcomes for market share, airline profits, fares and consumer welfare.     

The choice of air carrier, flight, and fare class

This paper reports the development and interpretation of air traveler choice models to gain insights into the tradeoffs air travelers make when they choose among different carriers, flights, and fare classes. Such insights can be used to support carrier decisions on flight scheduling, pricing, seat allocation, and ticket restrictions. This paper develops a conceptual framework and applies it to the choice of carrier, flight, and fare class as a basis for analyzing air travel demand in a competitive market. Model estimation results are used to quantify the importance of carrier preferences, market presence, quality of service, frequent flyer program membership, schedule convenience, and fares on carrier travel demand. The empirical results provide measures of the premium that business and leisure travelers are willing to pay to avoid schedule delays, to choose a carrier in which frequent-flyer program they participate, and to obtain the amenities and freedom from travel restrictions associated with higher fare classes.     

The assessment of the EU–US Open Skies Agreement: The counterfactual and other difficulties

The advent of the EU–US Open Skies Agreement has been widely anticipated. A number of consequences have been predicted, for example, impacts on fares, on passenger volumes, choice and on consumer welfare. Airline costs are also predicted to fall as a result of increased competitiveness and increased cooperation among airlines. In the short period since the implementation of the Agreement, it is relatively easy to assess the supply-side changes that have been made, but more difficult to make wider judgements. For example, can traffic growth be attributed to Open Skies and does airline and alliance market power result in less fare flexibility with consequently less influence on changes in passenger volumes? Have airline costs changed and what has been the source of the savings? This paper offers some insight into the data that will be required to make these and other wider judgements and discusses some methodological difficulties.     

The pain persists: Exploring the spatiotemporal trends in air fares and itinerary pricing in the United States, 2002–2013

In the United States, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 prompted higher levels of service frequency between large and/or popular markets, lowering associated fares, on average. However, deregulation also increased financial instability within the commercial air transport industry, reduced quality of service, increased passenger fees and accelerated changes in the operational configurations of networks through hubbing, dehubbing, mergers and acquisitions. Over time, these market forces have squeezed service to/from smaller communities through schedule reductions and higher fares, creating “pockets of pain” in the air transport landscape. The purpose of this paper is to explore the uneven spatiotemporal distribution of air fares, by airports and associated flight segments, examining both symmetries and asymmetries in fare patterns over time and across space. Results suggest that several significant pockets of pain still exist within the U.S., and that asymmetries in air fares creates a lopsided fare structure for many smaller markets, further aggravating the fare imbalances spawned by deregulation.     

Observations of fundamental changes in the demand for aviation services

This paper addresses the seemingly inexorable decline in yield in the airline industry. The external shocks to the industry of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, wars in Afghanistan and the Arabian Gulf and SARS all had downward impacts on the demand for air travel. However, these effects mask a more fundamental change in the demand for aviation services. The analysis uses published sources and a survey of 264 travellers to examine the fall in yields. The traffic mix of economy, business and first class passengers is shown to have changed over a 10 year period as proportionally more travellers choose to use economy class products. This combined with a fall in yield by a third in this cabin during the same period has lead to a significant fall in industrywide yields. Behavioural shifts in business travel and leisure demand are examined. Business travellers have switched from business class products as the difference between business class and leisure fares have increased significantly and as economy class and low-cost carrier products are increasingly viewed as acceptable for business traveller needs, particularly in short-haul markets. Leisure travel has increased as low-cost carriers have introduced low fares, generating new traffic and winning market share from scheduled and charter airline competitors alike.     

Adoption and loyalty toward low cost carriers: The case of Taipei–Singapore passengers

This study explores the determinants for the duration of airline passengers to adopt a low cost carrier (LCC) and their loyalty toward the LCC. The analysis results of travel information on 338 passengers traveling between Taipei and Singapore show that business passengers take longer duration to accept the LCC. Cheaper fares and convenient booking channels can shorten the passenger’s duration to adopt the LCC, whereas airline image and safety consideration can increase the duration. Frequent flyer programs and convenient booking channels can increase the passengers’ loyalty toward the LCC.     

Exploring characteristics of passengers using traditional and low-cost airlines: A case study of Belgrade Airport

Low cost carriers entered the Serbian air travel market after Serbia joined the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) in 2006, prompting the development of healthy competition among airlines and resulting in significant traffic increase at Belgrade Airport. The aim of this paper is to examine the characteristics of passengers traveling on low-cost carriers (LCC) in comparison with those traveling on traditional airlines by using cluster analysis, and to provide practical implications to airport management in tailoring their strategies to meet growing demand. A comprehensive passenger survey was recently conducted at Belgrade Airport on the routes where competition between traditional and LCC carrier exists. The results reveal that emigrants, primarily encouraged by favorable fares, constitute a substantial portion of LCC passengers. Affordable service offered by LCC has also been a positive stimulus for emigrants, who purchase tickets for their friends and relatives to visit them in their host countries. On the other hand, passengers using traditional airlines could be generally classified into two segments, those who fly on business and those who fly for leisure purposes, and each had specific needs when choosing their airline.     

The impact of airline financial distress on US air fares: A contingency approach

This article investigates to what extent an airline’s financial distress impacts its pricing behavior. While prior research suggests that, on average, distressed airlines sell at lower fares, it is hypothesized that the magnitude of this effect may depend on certain firm and market specific contingencies. A large-scale empirical analysis using panel data from the US airline industry is conducted. The results indicate that firm financial distress and air fares are generally negatively related. It is further shown that the magnitude of the effect of distress on fares decreases with the magnitude of operating costs and firm’s market shares and increases with firm size and the level of market concentration. Implications for policy makers and managers are discussed.     

Analysis of Iranian passengers' behavior in choosing type of carrier in international air travel to East Asia

Increased demand for East Asia flights from Tehran has intensified competition between Iranian and foreign carriers. In addition, the entrance of low-cost carriers (LCC) will make this competitive market even more intense. In this condition, carriers are striving to gain more market share by improving services and discounting their fares. Therefore, analyzing air travel demand is valuable for carriers' long term and short term planning. This study empirically investigates passengers' behavior in choosing five types of carriers in many groups of passengers using multinomial logit (MNL) and nested logit (NL) models. The data were collected through the stated preference (SP) questionnaire designed based on orthogonal main-effect. The main survey was conducted in the Imam Khomeini International (IKI) airport in July 2013 where 480 questionnaires were collected through face-to-face interviews. The results show that the ticket fare, the possibility of travel on desired date and time, international air travel experience, Frequent-flyer program (FFP) membership status, marital status, and gender are statistically significant contributors in explaining carrier choice. Interaction effects between trip purpose and ticket fare are statistically significant in choosing carriers. The results further indicate that business travelers are more willing to pay than non-business travelers for flights on desired date and time, although varying by type of carrier.     

Network dependency and airline competition – Consequences for remote areas in Norway

Due to the long stretched shape of the country and sparse population many regions in Norway are dependent on air travel that involves chained trips with two or more legs. Northern Norway and the west coast are particularly dependent on such networks. In these areas a number of short take-off and landing airports and subsidised regional airlines engaged in a public service obligations route tendering systems. However, regions dependent on competitive network travel have not all benefited from the last ten years of competition which has lead to lower fares on the main routes and ‘through-fares’ for network travellers have become relatively expensive. This is because there is only one network airline offering through fares. Network travel where one leg is commercially provided and not covered by public service obligation rules, leaving regulation authorities to intervention when fares are excessively high on other legs.     

Investigating the effects of economies of scope on firms’ pricing behavior: Empirical evidence from the US domestic airline industry

This study investigates to what extent cross-product (belly cargo) output affects (passenger ticket) prices in the US domestic airline industry. The empirical analysis indicates that greater cargo volumes generally result in lower air fares, presumably as a result of the airlines’ realization of economies of scope. This magnitude of this price effect, however, depends on certain firm and route market characteristics. The findings of this study add to extant research on economies of scope, multi-product yield management and airline pricing and provide important insights for policy makers and airline managers alike.     

The effect of low fare air carriers on airfares in the US

This paper examines the role that low fare air carriers play in determining air fares in the US. Regression modeling is used to test variables focusing on geographic and competition issues effecting airfare pricing. Variables tested in the modeling include the presence of low fare carriers in a market, hub domination, market share, and type of destination served. The final results show that low fare carriers play a statistically significant role in airfare determination in the US.     

Latent class models of international air carrier choice

This paper uses a market segmentation approach to identify airline passengers’ potential segments and preferences toward international air carriers. The modeling approaches consist of the stated preference method and the latent class model. The stated choice experiments were designed based on service attributes in the international airline choice context. Empirical data was collected from airline passengers who have flown from Taipei to Tokyo or from Taipei to Hong Kong. The latent class model accommodating preference heterogeneity outperforms the multinomial logit model as indication of a better approach to analyze airline choice behavior. The latent class model with individual socioeconomic and trip characteristics in segment membership functions also improved model fit relative to the corresponding latent class model without individual characteristics. The values of willingness to pay for service attribute improvements vary across international air routes and segments. Passengers are willing to pay more for better service quality. In order to develop effective marketing and operational strategies for the international air travel market, this study highlights the importance of exploring airline choice behaviors by routes and segments.