Continuous Connectivity Model for the Evaluation of Hub-and-Spoke Operations

초록

The deregulation of the air transport industry in Europe and the United Sates led airlines to reconfigure their networks into hub-and-spoke systems. Recent movements toward Open Skies in the Asian aviation market are also expected to prompt the reformation of airlines’ networks in the region. A fine connectivity index is a crucial tool for airlines and airport authorities in the estimation of the degree of hub operations. In this regard, this paper suggests a new index, the Continuous Connectivity Index (CCI), for measuring the coordination of airlines’ flight schedules and applies it to the Asian aviation market as well as the European and American markets. The CCI consists of three components: (i) temporal connectivity to readily identify long haul flight connections, which is related to the application of a continuous linear function, the new MCT (Minimum Connect Time) and the MACT (Maximum Acceptable Connect Time), (ii) spatial connectivity to differentiate the attractiveness by applying the de-routing effect with a continuous linear function, and (iii) relative intensity to reflect the effect of direct flight frequency on transfer routes. The CCI is evaluated by examining the casual relationship through regression analyses using two dependent variables: the number of transfer passengers and the transfer rate. Compared with Danesi’s index and Doganis’ index, the CCI had a higher coefficient of determination, implying a strong causal relationship with the dependent variables. Keywords: Connectivity, Hub-and-Spoke, Airline Networks, Transfer Passengers