Managing reliever gateway airports with high-speed rail network

Abstract On the basis of model analysis, this study proposes an effective method for managing reliever gateway airports when the main gateway airport is completely dysfunctional owing to a catastrophe. In particular, we deal with the case where the main and reliever airports are connected by high-speed rail (HSR), and we discuss a desirable and effective support policy for regaining passenger flow from/to the affected area. First, we analyze the market behavior under the usual condition as the base case by adopting the bi-level model, which is a supply-demand interaction model. Second, under the supposition of a catastrophe, we set up some scenarios of management policies, i.e. (i) no special policy and (ii) providing support to HSR passengers to induce them to the reliever gateways. Through such scenario analyses, we show that (i) HSR fare restriction is required to regain sufficient passenger flow and (ii) providing fare support to HSR passengers is an effective way to regain passenger flow using reliever gateways, which can contribute toward building a robust air transport network.