Hub-and-spoke network

[bizi2675]

Hi! to all fellow aviators!

I am a student and my major is Air Transport. I have to do this paperwork which is basically a translation of an article from a magazine called "International Journal Of Transport Economics".
I am from Slovenia, Europe and although I speak english I can't figure out two of the following expressions.
Here are my question:
1. What is a "Hub-and-spoke network" and
2. What is a "hub airport"?

I can't find explanations for that in any dictionary. Could someone please help me with that? I would appreciate any help.
Txs!

Bizi

P.S.: I know this question does not directly apply to flying and I apologize for that.

[PIGDOG]

It has to do with an airlines route set-up. If they have one main base and fly from there to many different places it is called a hub and spoke network. It tends to look like the hub and spoke of a bicycle wheel.

[cortilla]

As said by pigdog, the hub and spoke network is to do with the way an airline sets up its network. To gain full access to the route network of an airline, you will fly from one airport to the airline's hub airport and then transfer onto another flight to go to your final destination. A few examples of Hub airports are Heathrow for BA, Schipol for KLM and Frankfurt for Lufthansa. So say you were flying from edinburgh to singapore on BA, you wouldn't be able to fly it point to point you would have to go via the hub airport (namely Heathrow)
So your flight would be
Edinburgh - Heathrow
Heathrow - Singapore.

A basic route map which shows you the hub and spoke network of royal brunei where the hub is brunei itself, and you can fly to any destination of royal brunei's.
http://www.bruneiair.com/routes/index.asp
Hope that helps a little bit.

[seacue]

I view cortilla's LHR example as more of a gateway airport to long-haul foreign flights. Of course LHR flights also serve European desitnations which aren't longhaul.

I think the Hub-&-Spoke system is best seen in the USA.

Delta uses Atlanta as a hub. A "wave" of flights arrives from many destinations and about an hour later a wave of flights departs back to those same domestic distant points. This creates high peaks in airport traffic.

United and American use Chicago O'Hare as a hub. American uses Dallas-Ft Worth as a hub.

United uses Denver as a hub and a large majority of the passengers are making connections rather than visiting Denver.

The theory is that this scheme allows more destinations to be served from "lesser" airports and higher departure frequency - but it also means that many trips require a change of plane at the hub and the inefficiency of extra landings and takeoffs.

One of the most successful US airlines, Southwest, claims it doesn't use a hub&spoke system, though it does have "focus" airports where connections are common. Examples are Baltimore, Chicago Midway, Houston, etc.

Experiment with some airline web sites to a get a feel for the system:
www.aa.com
http://www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/requestSchedule

[cortilla]

like seacue said, there are some exceptions to the hub and spoke system. Ryanair claim they only fly point to point, but they do have several major airports, such as London stansted. however they will not check baggage through onto another flight, so whilst Stansted looks like a hub airport, in practice it is not.

[dusk2dawn]

Excelent examples of hub and spoke operators are the overnight parcel transporters as UPS, FEDEX, DHL and TNT. Each with several hubs around the world and hundred of spokes served both by themselves and subcontractors.

[bizi2675]

Thanks to all of you for giving me inputs. Now I understand it. Basically, if I draw a scheme it would look like a wheel on a bicycle. With center being hub airport and spokes being connections to that airport.
I really appreciate your replies and would like to thank you all.
Wishing you a nice day!

Bizi

[PIGDOG]

Not a problem, that's why we're here after all. :ok:

Another satisfied pprune customer...

[bizi2675]

yep, you're right about that pigdog. :D
I'm very satisfied pprune customer :D
Anyways, I quess it's appropriate to tell you in what connection were my questions. The article I'm translating is titled "Policy and economic implications of liberalizing intercontinental aviation markets", subtitle "Product differentiation and competition in the South America and Europe market". It is very interesting article about finding new hub airports on routes between those two continents.

[OverRun]

Bizi2675,

Sounds interesting. If you need to put some further analysis to the paper, a useful reference on the economics of hubbing (amongst many other things) is "Flying off course - the economics of international airlines" by Rigas Doganis. Available through Amazon.

[bizi2675]

OverRun,

Thanks for your input. :D It sounds like an excellent book, just right for my paperwork. I'll try and look it up. Txs again!

Bizi

[The SSK]

In fact in your country, Ljubljana acts as a mini-hub for Adria with flights to places that are not on the big airlines' networks, like Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo and Skopje. The flights are timed to connect with flights to and from from points such as Amsterdam and Brussels.

Mostly though LJU is a spoke airport, if you want to get from there to New York for example you have to travel via a big hub such as Paris or Frankfurt.

[bizi2675]

Yes, I understand it now. Ljubljana is a spoke airport and it is true that for long haul flights you need to fly first to bigger european airport (hubs) like Frankfurt, Paris,...
Txs to you all for you replies!

Bizi

[Flap 5]

It is interesting that the hub and spoke system is mainly used in the United States. However the Airbus A380 is better suited to the hub and spoke system than the latest designs from Boeing which are designed for direct to final destination flights. :hmm: