Reinterpreting EU Air Transport Deregulation: A Disaggregated Analysis of the Spatial Distribution of Traffic in Europe, 1990-2009

This paper analyses the spatial distribution of seat capacity in the EU from 1990 to 2009 and sheds light on the contrasting results in the literature. It contributes to the debate on the deregulation and whether the rise of hub-and-spoke networks and the success of low-cost carriers lead to concentration or deconcentration. We use the Gini index and its decomposition to evaluate the contribution of airport subgroups and airline networks to the overall concentration of seat capacity. We conclude that, overall, seat capacity follows a spatial deconcentration pattern. While intra-EU seat capacity became more spatially deconcentrated, extra-EU seat capacity concentrated. However, our results do not support the general view that network carriers tend to increase concentration levels and low-cost carriers to decrease them, leading us to a reinterpretation of the impacts of air transport deregulation. The results show the increasing importance of foreign carriers and new strategies such as hub-bypassing

The geography of the Spanish airport system: Spatial concentration and deconcentration patterns in seat capacity distribution, 2001-2008

This paper analyzes the geography of seat capacity at Spanish airports between 2001 and 2008. Concentration and deconcentration patterns for different markets have been identified. For this purpose, we use the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), the Concentration Ratio (CR) and the Lorenz curve. From our analysis, we conclude that seat capacity follows a deconcentration pattern due to the growth of low-cost carriers at small- and medium-sized Spanish airports. This is in line with earlier studies for Europe as a whole. Intercontinental seat capacity still remains very much concentrated in Madrid and, to a lesser extent, in Barcelona. However, new strategies by long-haul airlines bypassing the primary European hubs foster the deconcentration of seat capacity in the Asian and North American markets. In the case of Spain, the recent liberalization of the EU-US market may become an important enabler of such network strategies, e.g., Delta has operated a route from Valencia to New York-JFK since 2009. In other intercontinental markets, capacity is more and more concentrated in Madrid. We highlight the restructuring of Iberia's network as an important factor behind the increasing dominance of Madrid in intercontinental markets

Connectivity levels and the competitive position of Spanish airports and Iberia's network rationalization strategy, 2001-2007

This paper examines the connectivity of the Spanish airport system between 2001 and 2007. Over the period, network carriers considerably strengthened the connectivity between Spanish airports and major European hubs. Although OneWorld is still the dominant alliance in Spain, SkyTeam and Star achieved a larger connectivity share through the growth of indirect services provided through their northern European hubs. In addition, the network rationalization strategy of Iberia and its decision to concentrate operations at Madrid-Barajas had important implications for the connectivity of other Spanish airports. Low-cost carriers have boosted direct connectivity from secondary Spanish airports

An appraisal of the CORINE land cover database in airport catchment area analysis using a GIS approach.

This paper presents a free available dataset, the CORINE land cover that helps dealing with the biases caused by pre-defined and heterogeneous census district boundaries in airport catchment area analysis in Europe. Using this dataset and conventional GIS software it is possible to measure the size of the population within catchment areas at the same spatial level for all EU airports, allowing for consistent comparisons among airports. To illustrate the potential of the CORINE/GIS approach, the size of the population in the catchment areas of all European airports was determined. The empirical exercise has an aggregate perspective, but this database presents many other possibilities of analysis to perform in a case-by-case basis

In the wake of liberalisation: long-term developments in the EU air transport market

Using a 24-year analysis period (1990-2013), a new perspective is offered on long-term first- and second-order developments following liberalisation of the intra-EU air transport market. The focus of the analysis is on supply-side issues, such as airline output, structure of supply, yields, business models, and the position of (former) flag carriers. We find that air transport liberalisation in the EU internal market has facilitated significant growth in both the number and frequency of routes. Greater competition and lower fares at the route level went hand in hand with ongoing consolidation. The first and second liberalisation packages have enabled former flag carriers to develop into full-service hub-and-spoke carriers. It was only after the third package (1993-1997) that low-cost carriers were able to fully develop Europe-wide, point-to-point networks. They rapidly achieved a substantial market share after 2000. Following the adoption of the third package of liberalisation measures, charter operators launched scheduled operations as leisure airlines and adopted in part the new low-cost business model. Until 2013, direct competition between low-cost carriers and former flag carriers was limited due to different route development strategies. This picture has changed in recent years since more low-cost carriers have begun to focus on primary hubs. The competitive impact of the rapidly expanding new generation of hub carriers from Turkey and the Gulf has further increased competitive pressure on the former European flag carriers. Consequently, consolidation of the European airline industry is likely to continue, as well as the ongoing effort to reduce costs. Finally, rising competitive pressure may incentivise EU member states to develop a more protective national aviation policy

Measuring connectivity in the air freight industry

In this paper, we present an air transport connectivity model for air freight. For the purposes of this paper, connectivity is defined as all possible direct and indirect connections to or from an airport operated by wide-body aircraft, weighted for the quality of the connection in terms of transhipment and in-flight times. Using this model, we analyse the networks of seven European airports. Europe’s largest hub airports carry most air freight thanks to their extensive intercontinental passenger networks, while smaller airports with a strong focus on air freight carry large amounts of cargo on dedicated freighter aircraft. For air freight operations, the catchment area of an airport is much larger than it is for passenger services, as shipments are being trucked to their departure airport throughout all of mainland Europe. Since there are many airports sharing the same catchment area, potential competition for air freight is fierce. We found that well located regions between the four large European airports have access to large air freight networks, whilst regional air freight connectivity in northern and southern parts of Europe is substantially lower

Connectivity in air transport networks: models, measures and applications

The paper aims to analyze the different connectivity models employed to measure hub connectivity and airport accessibility. They are classified in terms of considered variables, underlying models and obtained results. We compute eight different measures of hub connectivity and airport accessibility for all the European airports. The results show the similarities and differences among the measures. With respect to the correlation to the traditional measures of airport size, small airports may have high accessibility if they have just a few flights to well-connected airports. On the other hand, big airports do not necessarily have a proportionally high hub connectivity since it requires very intense temporal coordination of flights that can be obtained only by large hub carriers with efficient wavesystem structures.Connectivity measures, hub connectivity, airport accessibility, empirical comparison, airline network