De-hubbing of airports and their recovery patterns

The paper analyzes cases of de-hubbing in air transport between 1997 and 2009. It initially addresses the conditions to be met for airports to be identified as de-hubbing cases. Second, it examines what happens after de-hubbing by clustering the cases into homogenous groups that show that, on average, airports that experienced de-hubbing did not recover their original traffic within five years and that de-hubbing is likely to be irreversible. When hub carriers were replaced at least partially by low-cost carriers, airports on average recovered faster. De-hubbing adversely affects the number of destinations served less severely than the seats offered by carriers.

► We apply quantitative conditions to identify de-hubbing based on scheduled flights. ► We find 37 different de-hubbing in the world from 1997 to 2009. ► Airports that suffered de-hubbing did not recover their original traffic in 5 years. ► De-hubbing is very likely to be irreversible. ► If low-cost carriers are involved, airports showed faster recovery trends.