Identifying competitive position for ten Asian aviation hubs

Abstract The Asia-Pacific region has become one of the biggest aviation markets in the world, and increasing numbers of airports in this region are keen to develop into aviation hubs. In order to understand the competitive position of the major Asian airports, this research has selected ten primary airports in the Asia-Pacific, and has identified the markets in which they have an advantage by looking into their connectivity levels in terms of both quantity and quality. Specifically, we have examined indicators that include the Quantity of Viable Connections (QVC), Quality of Viable Connections (QCI), the Hub Connectivity Performance Index (HCPI) and the Hub Efficiency Index (HEI) of the selected airports. The results reveal that China's Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) and Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) have higher QVC values than the others. They should therefore continue to develop the North America-China routes. Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) is found to have the largest HEI for markets as a whole, and should continue to develop the North America-Asia Pacific, North America-Southeast Asia and North America-China routes. Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport (TPE) has the highest HEI for the North America-Southeast Asia market, and should therefore increase the frequency of flights in this market in order to attract more transfer passengers. Since Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Airport (KUL) has the highest HEI and Singapore's Changi Airport (SIN) the highest QVC for the Asia Pacific-Europe market, both airports should continue to concentrate on this market. The analysis presented in this paper could help airport authorities identify their market positions and strengthen their comparative advantages based on the results.