Airline hub

Called A ( aviation ) hub, also ( Air) Hub (English air " air " hub " hub, pivotal point interface ") is understood in the aviation industry, in contrast to the broader term traffic junction a " hub airport " an airline or several airlines cooperating, an alliance, to switch between short, medium and long-haul flights. In common parlance, the technical term hub is often used synonymous with the generic term transportation hub or hub (eg in Frankfurt hub ). Many face including one or more large ( satellite ) terminals before with a number of passenger boarding bridges. This is true, although to many air transportation hubs, but is not absolutely necessary in order to speak of a hub in the technical sense can.

• 4.2.1 Historically and politically
• 4.2.2 Geographic
• 4.2.3 Economic Geographic
• 4.2.4 Conditional usage

Disambiguation

The treated here technical term hub ( hub) refers to the difference on all flights at an airport relating term in the sense of an air transport hub on the route network of an airline or alliance. Since the aviation term economic hub has been no scientifically clearly defined nor standardized law or international law, to be more specific meaning determined by the conditions prevailing in the commercial aviation conception, which is primarily determined by the operating airline. Undoubtedly, it is in a turnstile at the planning technical result of a more or less complex network planning one or more of cooperating airlines. Airports where airlines have set up hubs are often also used by the airlines as home and / or naval base, where you stationed aircraft is being serviced.

Altogether, the following five criteria must be met in order to speak at a commercial airport in the aviation business sense of a " hub " can:

• Numerous interchanges between flights of the same airline or airlines of the alliance,
• Shuttle function of short - and medium-haul flights for medium and long- haul flights of the same airline or alliance,
• List of connecting flights in the flight schedule of the airline as a one-stop flights, ie flight combinations that are associated with a change of aircraft; in the flight plan usually with the Latin word "via " (path / road ) meaning " the path leads through a model city " (eg from Munich to New York via Paris = Munich → Paris → New York),
• The scheduled conditional transition time must not be disproportionate to the total travel time that would be required for a (potential) non-stop or direct flight ( without stopover en route changes )
• Goal is the sustained profitability of - both planning technically, and logistically - elaborate turnstile.

In that regard, should any major IATA airline can have at least one hub in its network.

In the absence of the O.A. Conditions, it is merely a node in the route network of an airline in which various flights of the same airline or alliance meet, without posing systematic transfer connections.

There are also special air cargo hubs, where the same conditions as are applied in passenger traffic on the carriage of goods, only passenger boarding bridges can be omitted.

National and international hubs

Hubs are especially in area countries with high domestic air traffic as the United States is of great importance. Thus, the international air transport makes to the two largest airports in the world, Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare, only ten to 15 percent of total passengers from. Much larger international hubs of U.S. airlines, for example on the compared with Atlanta much smaller New York's John F. Kennedy Airport set on which the international passengers account for 48 percent.

Turnstiles at the largest air traffic hubs

Advantages of a turnstile

It must not be performed between all possible places non-stop flights. This would not be profitable, because the aircraft would rarely or never busy so that procurement, use and maintenance would be worthwhile. The load factors on each of the main routes can be increased by increasing the hub of various decentralized airports from passengers and cargo to be " supplied " for a main course.

If this advantage of an airline or within an alliance systematically, that is, to a greater extent, is used, then one speaks of a hub-and -spoke method.

Hub - and-spoke method

In the hub-and -spoke method ( hub - and -spoke method) in air transport passengers and goods are flown from their departure to the turnstile in order from there with passengers and goods from numerous other directions (but with the same goal ) fly on to their proper destination. The application of the hub-and -spoke method leads to a high utilization (peak load ) of the central transport hub and the aircraft. Hubs also contribute to long-haul flights large machines can be operated economically (the larger the aircraft and the longer the route, the lower the share of operating costs for the transport of a passenger ). Same time, smaller regional airports are connected to the global air transport network in this way. Accordingly, high reserve capacity in terms of infrastructure and reproached offered ground handling services are needed at the central hub. Throughout the day we go "Passenger masses " in several waves of smaller short - or medium-haul aircraft in medium or long -haul aircraft and vice versa.

Within various alliances hubs are used to enable a transfer of passengers between the various airlines. This increases the number of destinations offered for an airline to operate without the need already served by partner airlines routes with their own personnel and aircraft. From this increased flexibility, and small groups of customers can benefit whose transport would not be profitable to certain low demand, routes otherwise. How Lufthansa now the whole Australian continent does not fly itself, but the long-haul routes to and from Australia shares with its alliance partners, with the turnstile can be " halfway " (for example, in Singapore or Bangkok ). Large airlines operate one to three (but sometimes more ) of such hubs. So sets the Lufthansa Frankfurt am Main, Munich and in the future indirectly through its majority stake in the Swiss Zurich Airport as a major hub. Examples of freight hubs in Germany are the Cologne / Bonn airport as a European hub of UPS Airlines, and since 2008 Leipzig / Halle Airport as a European hub of DHL.

Types of hub-and -spoke systems

In reality, different types of hub-and -spoke systems occur.

• Hourglass stroke: Due to the geographical location of some airports, this especially on long O & D markets serve as a hub airport, which must be approached for technical reasons. A classic example is the Singapore airport that serves many passengers as a transit airport between Europe and Australia / New Zealand. The length of the in-and outbound connections is almost the same size.
• Hinterland hub: The key feature of this hub type is that short-haul and long-haul flights are interrelated, since the number of passengers for a direct flight is not sufficient.
• Multi-hub: It refers to the connection of two hubs of the alliance. For example, the two airports of Frankfurt / Main and Chicago / O'Hare would be a multi-hub structure of the Star Alliance.
• Mega hub: These are particularly important hubs of the alliance on a continent. In Europe, these are: London - Heathrow, Paris -Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt- Main.
• Secondary stroke: When the primary hub of an airline 's growth is limited for reasons of capacity, a second stroke is often decorated. For example applies Munich as a secondary hub for Lufthansa.
• Shared Hub: Some airports are sometimes used by two airlines as a hub. Chicago -O'Hare is the hub of United and American Airlines.

Reasons for the use of multiple hubs

Historically and politically

Following the merger of Air France and KLM, the resulting company Air France- KLM will continue to use both the Amsterdam-Schiphol airport, as well as the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport as turnstiles. Also the Zurich airport will continue to be used after the acquisition of Swiss by Lufthansa Group as " Swiss hub ".

Geographically

In order to cover approximately the entire surface of the USA, it is more advantageous to the east and on the west coast at least according to use a hub, since the alternative of a single central hubs in the Midwest (Chicago, Denver, Dallas or Minneapolis ) otherwise the detours too large and thus uninteresting for many passengers (eg for the route Seattle - Los Angeles ).

The Boeing concept of medium-sized, comfortable long-haul jets ( "Dreamliner" 787) investigated this customer need for a direct flight connections to take into account, while Airbus is the A380 rather on a progressive focus on mega- hubs that improve the usage of a large number of feeder flights ( engl. "feeder" ) are dependent. However, Airbus offers the A350 another aircraft for direct flights on long-haul routes to compete with the 787 at.

Geographically economy

The positioning as a key hub has because of its better air links serious parent site benefits:

By a stroke wins a city by their better accessibility to centrality in the global economic system. This in turn has an effect on the choice of location for the establishment of new businesses, from corporate headquarters and service providers. And because of the great offer cheaper flights possibly also on the steering of tourism (eg Las Vegas ). The strategic positioning of the city of Dubai in the international economic system also relies on these mutually reinforcing concentration effects.

Berlin's lack of appeal for the establishment of major national corporate headquarters, on the other hand will not last (in addition to others, especially historical factors ) associated with its lack of connection to the international air traffic.

In the coming years should be exciting to watch especially the development in the growth regions of Asia, where ( at least in China and Vietnam ) a mixture of state-controlled and economically indexed factors, the new mega - hubs in the future in Hong Kong, Canton, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Saigon and Hanoi will give rise, as expected, in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Jakarta and other major economic and administrative centers. Old locations such as Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo have to compete in the future against a strong competition from new international air travel hubs with large domestic markets and thus highly attractive as intercontinental destinations connecting passengers with great potential.

Due utilization

Lufthansa operates in Munich in addition to their main location in Frankfurt since 1996 another turnstile because the Frankfurt airport is almost fully utilized and the planned expansion delayed. In the meantime, Munich, however, has developed into an independent aviation hub, which even without the problem in Frankfurt is interesting because of its stage of development.

Criticism

• For the peak traffic times, a much larger and therefore more expensive infrastructure (landing and taxiway system transportation capacity, terminals, baggage handling, security checks ) must be provided.

• Increasing space requirements and more air traffic encounter in many cases their capacity limits (for example in Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Tokyo -Haneda ). With the expansion of additional burdens on local residents are connected (possibly years of costly processes).

• More transfer passengers do not necessarily mean a real increase in revenue for the airlines. The medium and long- haul aircraft are indeed busy computationally better, however, mean feeder flights for the airline initially higher operating costs compared to direct connections. Whether connecting flights are profitable, ultimately depends on the profit balance in the overall view of all services provided by an airline flight services from.

• At major airports, the residence of aircraft, particularly in the short and medium-haul traffic takes longer than with direct. This is partly due to the longer taxiways to and from the landing and take- off runways and on the other to flight schedule conditional longer stay times of the machines so that the connections are also guaranteed on all Flights. This reduces the actual flight hours per aircraft.

• The business statistics are distorted because every " transfer passengers " as " two passengers " (one arrival, one departure ) is counted. If these traffic balance facing the arriving by train, bus or car air passengers to a more realistic picture of the actual passenger traffic of an airport or an airline would.

• The flight schedule of an airline often gets confused for a longer period if, occur at a turnstile heaped delays, for example by the weather. Also, there is an increased delay or misdirection of baggage by frequent reloading.

• In environmental terms, there are different views as to whether the often low utilization of feeder flights compared to the thus achieved higher utilization of long-haul aircraft in the environmental performance of a higher emissions of air pollutants means more than when direct flights are carried out. It is important to distinguish between a business-related environmental balance and the environment overall balance. To separate them is the public debate is whether, given the increase in mobility rates of increase in air transport compared to other modes of transport can yet be regarded as environmentally friendly.

• Hubs and feeder airports create new disparities in the competition among cities, as they represent a major location advantage, which in turn can mean for cities that do not have their own ( shuttle ) airport a significant competitive disadvantage.