Spatio-temporal evolution of competitiveness in China-Europe aviation hub cities based on an improved Connectivity Utility Model
Received date: 2024-07-17
Revised date: 2025-01-15
Online published: 2025-07-18
Supported by
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(24qnpy022)
National Natural Science Foundation of China(41930646)
National Natural Science Foundation of China(42471267)
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai)(311024015)
Copyright
Aviation hub cities are vital nodes in global air transport networks, facilitating the efficient flow of production factors. The intense competition among China-Europe aviation hubs reflects broader global competition within the aviation industry. However, research focusing on the competitive landscape of China-Europe aviation hub cities remains limited. Existing evaluations often prioritize quantitative factors over qualitative aspects, lacking a comprehensive analysis of hub strengths and weaknesses. This study introduced an improved Connectivity Utility Model to assess the competitiveness of Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and other Asian hubs in the China-Europe air transport market. The enhanced model addressed the complexities of inter-hub transfers in multi-airport cities and incorporated passenger preferences within a dual-dimensional framework that balanced both quantity and quality. The findings revealed: 1) Regarding inter-regional hub competition, Chinese hubs exhibited increasing strength in the number of transfer flights. Nevertheless, despite experiencing less competition from direct flights compared to their European counterparts, they continued to trail European hubs in terms of average transfer time and the proportion of flights operated within the same airline alliance. Additionally, Chinese hubs fell short of other Asian and Middle Eastern hubs in aspects such as average seat capacity, the proportion of shortest connection time flights, intra-airline transfers, and inter-hub connectivity in multi-airport systems. 2) Regarding intra-regional hub competition, within Chinese hubs, Hong Kong’s role as an intermediary hub gradually weakened, while Chengdu increasingly asserted itself as a key westward gateway hub. Within European hubs, emerging hubs such as Moscow and Istanbul posed competitive threats to traditional hubs like Frankfurt, Paris, and London. 3) While Chinese hubs made significant progress in improving their competitiveness, the focus remained heavily on quantity rather than quality. A shift from quantitative growth to qualitative breakthroughs was crucial for the high-quality development of Chinese hubs and for maintaining a leading position in the global hub competition. This study provided insights for enhancing the competitiveness of China’s hub cities through targeted strategies involving airlines, airports, and government collaboration.
Zhang Qi , Wang Bo , Xue Desheng , Xu Jili . Spatio-temporal evolution of competitiveness in China-Europe aviation hub cities based on an improved Connectivity Utility Model[J]. GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE, 2025 , 45(7) : 1465 -1474 . DOI: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.20240717
表1 18个典型的中−欧航空枢纽城市分类Table 1 Classification of 18 typical China-Europe aviation hub cities |
枢纽城市分类 | 城市名称 |
中国枢纽城市 | 北京、上海、广州、成都、香港 |
欧洲枢纽城市 | 法兰克福、巴黎、伦敦、阿姆斯特丹、慕尼黑、罗马、莫斯科、哥本哈根、伊斯坦布尔 |
中东枢纽城市 | 迪拜、多哈 |
其他亚洲枢纽城市 | 首尔、曼谷 |
图2 1997年、2007年和2019年典型中−欧航空枢纽城市竞争力评价M1为垄断中转航班总量/班次;O1为重叠中转航班总量/班次;O2为平均衔接效用指数;O2-1为平均座位数/个;O2-2为最短时间中转航班占比/%;O2-3为平均中转时间/min;O2-4为同一航空公司承运的中转航班份额/%;O2-5为同一航空联盟承运的中转航班份额/%;O2-6为并存直达航班竞争的中转航班份额/%;O2-7为多机场城市跨枢纽中转航班份额/% Fig. 2 Competitiveness evaluation of typical China-Europe aviation hub cities in 1997, 2007 and 2019 |
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