AIRLINE NETWORK DESIGN PROBLEM WITH DIFFERENT AIRPORT CAPACITY CONSTRAINTS

Shortages of resources at airports have become a serious problem, however most past studies in airline network design have not taken into consideration capacity restrictions at airports. This study addressed the capacitated fixed charge hub location problems. Two models with different capacity constraints are proposed to determine the hub location and service network; capacity constraints in the first model take into account total volumes that pass through airports, including inbound, outbound, and transshipped traffic, while those in the second model only account for transshipment flows. Both models take into consideration most possible services, including non-stop and hub-connected, and the coexistence of both services. This provides maximal flexibility for the construction of airline service networks. A network based on the air freight market between Taiwan and China will be used to illustrate the proposed models, while analyses show that the use of different capacity constraints will result in different hub locations and network structures.