Impact of colored motif characteristics on the survivability of passenger airline networks in China

Abstract

Passenger airline networks are an important agent of social and economic connections between cities, and embody characteristics of complex networks. The study on the survivability of passenger airline networks has positive significance on their healthy and safe development. There have been several in-depth empirical studies on the impact of macrostructural characteristics of complex networks on network survivability, however few studies have focused on the impact of microstructure on network survivability, which is the focus of this paper. As the basic building blocks of the network, colored motifs can distinguish the different functions of nodes or edges in the motif, and then comprehensively depict the network microstructure. We used this characteristic to study the impact of microstructure on network survivability, in this paper. Passenger airline networks of different airlines in China during 2018, were studied, and the three-node and four-node colored motifs of different airline networks were identified. Complex network indexes were used to measure the survivability of airline networks under intentional and random attacks. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted between the survivability coefficient of each airline network and the concentration of colored motifs to explore the impact of colored motif characteristics on network survivability. The results show that: (1) microscopic topological structures represented by colored motifs in airline networks are closely related to the macro spatial structural modes of airline networks (such as hub and spoke model); (2) vast majority of passenger airline networks in China are more vulnerable to intentional attacks and are robust in the face of random attacks; (3) from the perspective of topological structures of network motifs, motifs with radial and loop structures have positive impacts on network survivability under intentional attacks, while motifs with loop structures had negative impacts on network survivability under random attacks; (4) from the perspective of the type of colored motifs, motifs with a large number of hub nodes, high degree of agglomeration, and strong hub-and-spoke effect can enhance the ability of the network to resist intentional attacks. The agglomeration of non-hub nodes has a positive effect on network survivability under intentional attacks, and a linear structure with hub nodes at both ends can enhance the ability of airline networks to resist random attacks. In actual route planning, adjusting the type of colored motif from the microstructural perspective can be a good means to enhance the survivability of the entire airline network.