Network structure, capacity growth and route hierarchies: the case of China’s air traffic system revisited

Abstract

This paper examines air traffic patterns among China’s scheduled airlines in January 2006 and January 2011, using Official Airline Guide data on carrier schedules. The author classifies Chinese carriers into one of four classes. Airports are also organized into a classification scheme based on several criteria related to the total volume of traffic, the carriers serving the airports and the nature of the airports to which they are connected. Counts, sums, percentage shares and changes in these calculations between 2006 and 2011 are presented in tabular form. Inferences about the fundamental structure and future patterns of capacity growth for the yet not fully emerged Chinese air traffic system can be drawn.