G. Burghouwt

The spatial configuration of airline networks in Europe

The deregulation of US domestic passenger aviation in 1978 resulted in the reconfiguration of airline networks into radial route systems, spatially concentrated around a small number of central airports or ‘hubs’. This paper investigates whether a similar spatial concentration trend can be observed in the European aviation network after deregulation at the airline network level. Using the network concentration index, it is demonstrated that European ‘flag carriers’ already showed a very high traffic concentration rate at the beginning of deregulation. Between 1990 and 1999, the distribution of European traffic of these carriers remained remarkably stable according to the network concentration index. A spatial concentration trend of European traffic on a small number of hubs can only be observed for some regional airlines.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN AVIATION NETWORK, 1990-1998

The deregulation of US aviation has led to drastic changes in route structures and to widespread adoption of the hub-and-spoke system. This paper investigates whether deregulation in the European Union has led to a similar pattern. The study uses time schedule data for all airports in the European Union during the period 1990–1998 and analyses both intra-European and intercontinental scheduled services. At the airport level, we find no evidence for the concentration of intra-European traffic on a small number of hubs. Air traffic to intercontinental destinations, however, is increasingly concentrated on hub airports. At the route level, a type of hub-and-spoke structure has developed. Here, the national carriers remain the dominant players. The market share of low-cost carriers has increased but is still very small. This paper concludes that a number of imperfections on the supply side of the market constrain the effect of European deregulation on competition.

The geography of deregulation in the European aviation market.

The deregulation of US aviation since 1978 has resulted in the reconfiguration of airlines’ route networks, and in the concentration of traffic on a small number of central airports or ‘hubs’. This paper investigates whether a similar trend can be observed in the European aviation network after deregulation. Data is used for all airports in the European Union receiving scheduled services for the period 1990–98, and both intra‐European and intercontinental services are considered. The findings on the airport level suggest that intercontinental traffic is increasingly concentrated on Europe’s primary hubs, and that intra‐European traffic is increasingly concentrated on smaller airports in the European aviation network. On the route level, the results support the claim that the structure of the European aviation network has moved in the direction of a hub‐and‐spoke network over the sample period with the secondary hubs playing a more important role in the hub‐spoke traffic.