THE TEMPORAL CONFIGURATION OF EUROPEAN AIRLINE NETWORKS

The deregulation of U.S. aviation resulted in the reconfiguration of airline networks into hub-and-spoke systems. A hub-and-spoke network requires a concentration of traffic in both space and time. In contrast to the U.S. airlines, European airlines had entered the phase of spatial network concentration long before deregulation. Bilateral negotiation of traffic rights between governments forced European airlines to focus their networks spatially on a small number of national airports. With the deregulation of the European Union air transport market in 1988, a second phase of airline network concentration started. European airlines concentrated their networks in time by adopting or intensifying wave-system structures in their flight schedules. Temporal concentration may increase the competitive position of the networks in a deregulated market because of certain cost and demand advantages. This paper investigates to what extent a temporal concentration trend can be observed in the European aviation network after deregulation. We analyze the presence and configuration of wave-system structures at European airline hubs as well as the resulting transfer opportunities. OAG data is used for all European carriers with scheduled services between 1990 and 1999. Findings indicate that a temporal concentration trend exists among European airlines. European deregulation has resulted in the adoption or intensification of wave-system structures by airlines. These wave-system structures as well as the overall traffic growth have significantly stimulated the number of indirect hub connections. Airline hubs with wave-system structures perform generally better than airline hubs without a wave-system structure in terms of indirect connectivity given a certain number of direct connections.