Small-world network theory in the study of network connectivity and efficiency of complementary international airline alliances

Abstract

This paper investigates the network connectivity and efficiency of international airline alliances, and conceptually applies the shortcuts of small-world networks to analyze alliance routes. Based on travel time, mobility and accessibility models are formulated to evaluate the effects of alliance on network connectivity. The results show that the connectivity of the alliance network is better than before, and the alliance effectively improves accessibility from high-medium traffic airports to low traffic airports. After the alliance, the shortest paths between origin-destination pairs will involve more transfers but less travel time. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.