Assessing the importance of hub airports for cargo carriers and its implications for a sustainable airport management

The air cargo sector has developed very rapidly during the last decades from a pure by-product to a self-contained. The strong development changed the airport–airline relationship as cargo became a significant revenue source for airports and airlines. Airport operators invest in new freight terminals, which need to be refinanced efficiently through airport charges. Thus, airport operators favor long-term contracts between airports and airlines. Contrarily, airlines are especially at non-hub airports extremely flexible and change their schedules rapidly if necessary. Therefore, it is financially essential for airports to know about their status within the operating airline's network. The present paper assesses the importance of single airports for cargo airlines from a network perspective and analyzes the implications for airport operators.

► Essential differences exist in the network structures of cargo airlines.
► We examined the implications of the network structures for airport operators.
► Hub airports are expected to continue to be successful in retaining cargo airlines.
► The dynamics of the industry enables secondary airports to attract services.