Airport Pairs Research Articles

A nodal regional analysis of air passenger transport in Europe

The aim of this paper is examining the relations between EU airports and cities from the passengers air transport point of view, observing the polarisation of flows towards some nodes of the European air transport network. The analysis is carried out highlighting nodal regions, obtained observing the interactions among cities and airports pairs in terms of the dominant flows. We use a selection from Eurostat Database of 277 airports and 3,572 routes between airport pairs in the 27 EU countries. Nystuen and Dacey's theory of network analysis is used to explore the characteristics of the 'European sky' to understand how nodal regions appear in terms of dominance of interactions, measured by means of air traffic flows, and what European - regional hierarchies can be observed. The analysis allowed observing both nodal regions centred on airports dominant over international connections, as well as national and local situations, where a node is dominant over national ones.

Price dispersion and competition in European airline markets

This paper tests the effects of competition on price dispersion in European airline markets. By conducting a cross-sectional analysis of some 1200 flights between more than 130 European airport pairs, we confirm recent results for the US airline industry that show a non-monotonic relationship between competition intensity and price dispersion. We link our results to recent efficiency and productivity analyses. Our findings support the hypothesis that efficient airlines are better positioned to differentiate fares than their less efficient counterparts.

Route Competition in Multi-Airport Cities: An Analysis of US Air Fares

Abstract When there is only one airport in the origin and destination cities of a given route market, the assessment of level of competition in an airline route market can be straightforward. The presence of more than one airport at the origin or destination cities, however, makes the measurement of route competition much more difficult. This research measures competition at both the airport pair and city pair levels to empirically separate the impacts of direct and adjacent competition on yields in multi-airport cities. The analysis of a large panel data set from the US airline industry reveals that airport pairs within a metropolitan area appear to be effective yet imperfect substitutes. That is, while competition at adjacent airport pairs does have significant effect on fares in a focal airport pair market, this effect is found to be markedly smaller than that of added competition in the focal airport-to-airport route market. In addition, the effects of airport location relative to the population epicenter, the extent of airport congestion, and a carrier's strategic type on yields and passenger demand are assessed. Implications for policymakers and managers are discussed and directions for future research are provided.

Hub competition and travel times in the world-wide airport network

The aim of this work is to measure the competition between airport hubs based on an analysis of travel times in the world-wide airport network. By considering the minimum travel time required to connect each pair of airports, it is possible to create new measures of hub competition, separating the effects of hub position and temporal coordination. This analysis was carried out at the global level, considering all 232 airports with more than 3 million seats yearly offered in departure flights in 2008, and also in relevant geographic markets. The results show a high level of competition among the most important world airports, but the major airports of Europe have a geographical advantage in relation to world markets over the major American and Asian airports. We also show that airports located in different continents often compete for the same origin–destination markets. Geographical position appears to be the most important variable explaining hub performance. Secondary hubs show a higher degree of specialization towards specific markets.

Regional airports in a competitive market: A case study of Cardiff International Airport

Political and market forces have increased the role of regional airports in the UK. This paper examines their spatial distribution and potential for competing and complementary activity between airport pairs, including between regional and London airports. Interviews with management personnel at Cardiff International Airport were used to explore the airport's commercial, marketing and strategic position. Analysis demonstrates how the boom in low-cost carriers has exploited demand for regional airports. Consequently, regional airports in the UK often compete in the same customer and airline markets; furthermore, they compete with London airports.

A comparative study of airport connectivity in China, Europe and US: Which network provides the best service to passengers?

This paper investigates the connectivity of the airport networks in China, Europe and US. Our aim is to analyze which network is most beneficial to final passengers in terms of travel time and which of the network features lead to such a result. A time-dependent minimum path approach is employed to calculate the minimum travel time between each pair of airports in the three networks, inclusive of flight times and waiting times in intermediate airports. We evaluate each fastest indirect connection in terms of waiting times and routing factors to consider the effect of the hubs’ coordination and locations. The Chinese network provides the quickest travels for passengers, but this performance is explained by a small number of airports per inhabitant. The US network is the most coordinated when considering indirect connections. The EU network provides the most homogeneous level of service when comparing airports of different sizes.

Condicionantes macroeconômicos e regulatórios da determinação da capacidade produtiva: estudo de caso do setor aéreo

Este trabalho objetiva identificar fatores macroeconômicos, regulatórios e concorrenciais que afetam a decisão de empresas quanto ao dimensionamento de sua capacidade produtiva. Foi desenvolvido um estudo de caso do transporte aéreo - aproveitando de uma especificidade do setor - que requer a tomada de decisão quanto à capacidade em cada submercado (par de aeroportos) operado. Buscou-se identificar o processo decisório das firmas utilizando-se um painel de dados tridimensional desagregado ao nível da empresa-mercado-tempo. Resultados finais mostraram que: 1. agregados macroeconômicos, como o PIB e a taxa de câmbio, têm impacto estatisticamente significante na formação da capacidade; 2. as medidas advindas do período da quase-desregulamentação do setor, a partir de 2001, tiveram pouco impacto sobre a capacidade, medida pela oferta de assentos; e, por fim, 3. a associação estabelecida entre as duas maiores empresas do setor, em 2003, teve impactos relevantes, ilustrando o fato de que maior dominância afeta a tomada de decisão quanto à oferta, e requer, assim, maior acompanhamento antitruste.

Connectivity of the European airport network: “Self-help hubbing” and business implications

This paper investigates the connectivity of the European air transportation network. A time-dependent minimum path approach is employed to calculate the minimum travel time between each pair of airports in the network, inclusive of flight times and waiting times. The connectivity offered by each alliance's network is compared with that of the overall network. The results show that roughly two-thirds of the fastest indirect connections are not operated by the alliance system; this could be exploited to enable a new passenger strategy of “self-help hubbing”.

Periodic airline fleet assignment with time windows, spacing constraints, and time dependent revenues

Given the sets of flights and aircraft of an airline carrier, the fleet assignment problem consists of assigning the most profitable aircraft type to each flight. In this paper we propose a model for the periodic fleet assignment problem with time windows in which departure times are also determined. Anticipated profits depend on the schedule and the selection of aircraft types. In addition, short spacings between consecutive flights which serve the same origin–destination pair of airports are penalized. We propose a non-linear integer multi-commodity network flow formulation. We develop new branch-and-bound strategies which are embedded in our branch-and-price solution strategy. Finally, we present computational results for periodic daily schedules on three real-world data sets.

Topology of the Italian airport network: A scale-free small-world network with a fractal structure?

Abstract In this paper, for the first time we analyze the structure of the Italian Airport Network (IAN) looking at it as a mathematical graph and investigate its topological properties. We find that it has very remarkable features, being like a scale-free network, since both the degree and the “betweenness centrality” distributions follow a typical power-law known in literature as a Double Pareto Law. From a careful analysis of the data, the Italian Airport Network turns out to have a self-similar structure. In short, it is characterized by a fractal nature, whose typical dimensions can be easily determined from the values of the power-law scaling exponents. Moreover, we show that, according to the period examined, these distributions exhibit a number of interesting features, such as the existence of some “hubs”, i.e. in the graph theory’s jargon, nodes with a very large number of links, and others most probably associated with geographical constraints. Also, we find that the IAN can be classified as a small-world network because the average distance between reachable pairs of airports grows at most as the logarithm of the number of airports. The IAN does not show evidence of “communities” and this result could be the underlying reason behind the smallness of the value of the clustering coefficient, which is related to the probability that two nearest neighbors of a randomly chosen airport are connected.

The evaluation of air transportation network based on multiple criteria

Abstract The problem is partitioned into two components: to propose the air transportation network based on “hub and spoke” pattern as alternative network in Sumatera island (one of the islands in Indonesia), and to propose the algorithm for the aircraft selection of the suitable type of aircraft in the operation on airport pairs. The algorithm presented in this paper is obtained from heuristic, and then comparing of our proposal with the existing one is done, based on the multiple criteria.

Inexpensive, Multiple-Unit Environmental Chambers with Temperature and Humidity Control1

A system is described that has eight independently controlled environmental chambers with a single electric resistance heat source and a medium-temperature 0.5-ton (100 Btu/min) refrigeration unit to provide warm and cold forced air through ducts to each of the units (90 by 60 by 60 cm). A thermostat in each chamber controls a pair of solenoid-actuated warm and cold air ports. Its design is simple and reliable, using integrated circuits for easy repair and high-current switching transistors instead of relays for increased longevity, Temperature control is ± 0.5°C, and humidity control has been added. The cost of all materials and equipment can be kept under 2,000 if the thermostats are assembled from component parts.

The Requirement for Precise Navigation

Before considering in any detail the importance of precise navigation to air traffic control, or attempting to define the word ‘precise’ in this context, it seems desirable to go back to fundamentals and consider certain essential characteristics of a volume of traffic flowing between individual pairs of airports in a system comprising a large number of such airports, randomly distributed and heavily loaded.