Airline Hubs

If you’ve ever followed the news in the aviation industry, you’re bound to have heard of a hub. Have you ever wondered what a hub is and why it seems so important to airlines, airports, cities and even countries? Well, sit back and keep reading …

A hub airport is a key component of the “hub and spoke” model used all across the air travel industry. A hub airport is an airport which serves to concentrate passenger traffic by offering connections to a variety of other airports known as “spokes”. Hub airports allow airlines to leverage on and take advantage of economies of scale in planning their services. A hub airport also allows an airline to expand the reach and appeal of its brand by serving city pairs which it would not otherwise have been able to serve either for operational or legal reasons. An airline’s hub is simply an airport (usually an airline’s home base) where an airline brings in passengers from other points on its route network for onward transfer to their final destination.

Hub & spoke model compared with the point - to - point model

An example of this can be found in one of Africa’s foremost international Air carriers -  Ethiopian Airlines’ route network where all of its long – haul (international) flights depart and arrive at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), this airport is Ethiopian’s hub. ADD allows Ethiopian to gather passengers from far flung points (spokes) on its route network and funnel them through its hub airport, to their final destinations in a more cost effective and efficient manner.

Ethiopian Airlines Route Network

         

Ethiopian Airlines Aircraft @its Addis Ababa International Airport hub

For example, Ethiopian Airlines serves four major airports in Nigeria; Murtala Mohammed International Lagos (LOS), Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja (ABV), Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu (ENU) and Aminu Kano International Airport Kano (KAN) as well as several major cities in the West African sub region. The airline also has regular services to cities in China and India such as Beijing (PEK), Mumbai (BOM) and Guangzhou (CAN). Ethiopian knows that several Nigerian passengers as well as passengers from several other cities in the West African sub – region (Accra, Dakar, Cotonou etc) wish to fly to cities in China and India but it is not permissible for the airline to fly say from Lagos or Dakar direct to Guangzhou, China and in any case, if it were permissible to fly from Dakar or Lagos direct to Guangzhou, it might have a hard time finding a sufficient number of passengers to fill its aircraft. In such a scenario, the hub and spoke model performs a very crucial role as the airline can gather passengers from various cities in its network who wish to fly to Guangzhou and place them on its flight to Guangzhou. By aggregating passenger traffic in this manner, the airline has a better chance at filling up its aircraft, boosting passenger numbers and spreading its brand and service far and wide. Airlines further strive to enhance the attractiveness of their hubs by timing their flights in such a manner as to reduce the time spent waiting at the hubs for connecting flight (transit or layover time); typical transit times are approximately 2 – 4  hours; enough time for the passenger to roam the shops and cave in to the temptations posed by the abundant merchandise without getting overly exasperated by the wait times.

Dubai International Airport Duty Free Shopping

Additionally, hubs airports have evolved to become luxury shopping destinations in their own right. Hubs like Dubai (DXB), London Heathrow (LHR), Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) have become desired transit points for passengers largely due to their vast array of shopping, dining and luxury experiences. The allure of these hubs ensure that their home airlines remain appealing to travelers while generating vast sums in revenue for their local and national governments.  

All across the world, major cities work very hard to ensure that their large airports become important connecting hubs with robust connections to most parts of the world. A hub airport is capable of generating and supporting tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs as well as generating enormous sums of money via taxes, landing charges, passenger service charges etc. 

 

 London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) is one of the world’s mega hubs serving in excess of 70million passengers annually, it is also home to British mega carrier British Airways (BA).

British Airways hub: London Heathrow Airport

Emirates Hub; Dubai International Airport (DXB)

Nigeria & West Africa's largest airline; Arik Air (hubs at Lagos (LOS) & Abuja (ABV)

If you have ever flown on a long haul international flight out of any Nigerian airport, chances are that you’ve passed through one of the international air hubs – Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD), Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi (NBO), O.R Tambo International Airport Johannesburg (JHB), Dubai International Airport (DXB), Heathrow Airport London (LHR), Hartsfield – Jackson International Airport Atlanta (ATL) etc, if you have, what was the experience like? Which is/are your favourite airport(s) and why? Which hub would you love to pass through in future?

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