Network performance and competitive impact of the single hub - A case study on Turkish Airlines and Emirates

This paper introduces a new model for evaluating connectivity at hub airports. The Hub Connectivity Performance Analyser (HCPA), developed in this context, assesses both schedule- and comfort-related attributes of indirect flights and consolidates the results into two indexes: the Hub Connectivity Performance Index (HCPI) and the Hub Efficiency Index (φ). The proposed methodology is used to derive conclusions about the hub performance and efficiency of two modern influential super-connectors: Turkish Airlines and Emirates. Connectivity at Istanbul Atatürk and Dubai International airports is therefore evaluated for the said carriers and their alliance code-sharing partners. Historical growth and key O&D flows targeted by each carrier are identified and benchmarked to establish the competitive impact of their hubs. Findings indicate that Emirates operates an ultra-efficient hub, which has superior performance to that of Turkish Airlines; however, in a market-breakdown basis, the dominance is split between the two carriers. Given that both Istanbul Atatürk and Dubai International operate near capacity, the study concludes that the way forward for both carriers is either to opt for up-gauging their fleet or targeting higher hub efficiency.