Evolution trends of the network structure of Spring Airlines in China: A temporal and spatial analysis

Yonglei Jiang, Baozhen Yao, Lu Wang, Tao Feng and Lu Kong

Journal of Air Transport Management, 2017, vol. 60, issue C, 18-30

Abstract: Both the sustainable development of China's economy and the deregulation of the China air transport market have acted as a spur for the halting development of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in China. To analyze the development trends of LCCs' network in China, this paper took Spring Airlines, the only LCC in China as an example. First, the winter flight plans of Spring Airlines from 2005 to 2013 were collected. Secondly, the development trends of air transport network of Spring Airlines were explored with methods of mathematical statistics and social network analysis. Additionally, the development trends were analyzed from the levels of navigable cities, air routes and air transport networks. The results show that although Spring Airlines actively launched air routes between tourist cities with non-class I airports, its network has been transformed from a star structure into a complex one with multi-hubs. The development process of the Spring Airlines network can be separated into three stages. In addition, the problems and evolution trends of its network are discussed further.

Keywords: Low-cost carriers; Spring airlines; Air transport network; Temporal and spatial analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:60:y:2017:i:c:p:18-30

DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.12.009

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