IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaitra/v124y2025ics0969699725000146.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A combined approach using structural equation modeling and analytic hierarchy process in hub airports selection

Author

Listed:
  • Bordeaux, Gabriel
  • Couto, António
  • Jimenez, Edgar

Abstract

This study presents a method to assist airlines in selecting a hub airport using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) combined with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This approach aims to determine the most essential elements in this selection process using observed variables collected from 300 major airports worldwide. Research on key aspects for hub airport selection is still scarce in the literature. Furthermore, most studies rely on multicriteria analyses with weights obtained through expert interviews, potentially introducing subjectivity. Therefore, this paper presents a unique approach: criteria and sub-criteria values in the AHP are determined by the results achieved in the SEM, providing a reliable scale of priorities among variables in the process of choosing a hub. The SEM tested two hypotheses that were supported by comparing two latent variables related to airport and region characteristics with another latent variable referring to aspects present in the activity of the dominant airline within each facility. Subsequently, an AHP was implemented, with criteria and sub-criteria weights based on the standardized loading factors and regression coefficients from the SEM, using sets of airports for each established world region in the study. Results indicated that airport characteristics, particularly those related to the passenger terminals, have a greater influence on the main carrier activity than region characteristics. A regional analysis revealed that in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, this predominance is even more pronounced, whereas in Asia-Pacific region, there is a contrary trend in which the socioeconomic factors of the city appear to be more important than airport infrastructure. The weights assigned in the AHP, based on SEM values, confirmed cohesion between the two stages of the proposed model.

Suggested Citation

  • Bordeaux, Gabriel & Couto, António & Jimenez, Edgar, 2025. "A combined approach using structural equation modeling and analytic hierarchy process in hub airports selection," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:124:y:2025:i:c:s0969699725000146
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102752
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699725000146
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102752?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Merkert, Rico & Assaf, A. George, 2015. "Using DEA models to jointly estimate service quality perception and profitability – Evidence from international airports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 42-50.
    2. Kağan Albayrak, Muhammed Bilge & Özcan, İsmail Çağrı & Can, Raif & Dobruszkes, Frédéric, 2020. "The determinants of air passenger traffic at Turkish airports," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Lai, Po‐Lin & Potter, Andrew & Beynon, Malcolm & Beresford, Anthony, 2015. "Evaluating the efficiency performance of airports using an integrated AHP/DEA-AR technique," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 75-85.
    4. Rodríguez-Déniz, Héctor & Suau-Sanchez, Pere & Voltes-Dorta, Augusto, 2013. "Classifying airports according to their hub dimensions: an application to the US domestic network," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 188-195.
    5. Matsumoto, Hidenobu & Domae, Koji, 2018. "The effects of new international airports and air-freight integrator's hubs on the mobility of cities in urban hierarchies: A case study in East and Southeast Asia," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 160-166.
    6. Burghouwt, Guillaume, 2014. "Long-haul specialization patterns in European multihub airline networks – An exploratory analysis," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 30-41.
    7. Cui, Qiang & Kuang, Hai-bo & Wu, Chun-you & Li, Ye, 2013. "Dynamic formation mechanism of airport competitiveness: The case of China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 10-18.
    8. Cheung, Tommy K.Y. & Wong, Collin W.H. & Zhang, Anming, 2020. "The evolution of aviation network: Global airport connectivity index 2006–2016," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    9. Yang, Zhongzhen & Yu, Shunan & Notteboom, Theo, 2016. "Airport location in multiple airport regions (MARs): The role of land and airside accessibility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 98-110.
    10. Juan Gabriel Brida & Daniel Bukstein & Sandra Zapata-Aguirre, 2016. "Dynamic relationship between air transport and economic growth in Italy: a time series analysis," International Journal of Aviation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(1), pages 52-67.
    11. Marazzo, Marcial & Scherre, Rafael & Fernandes, Elton, 2010. "Air transport demand and economic growth in Brazil: A time series analysis," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 261-269, March.
    12. Kirsi Mukkala & Hannu Tervo, 2013. "Air Transportation and Regional Growth: Which Way Does the Causality Run?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(6), pages 1508-1520, June.
    13. Fageda, Xavier, 2014. "What hurts the dominant airlines at hub airports?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-189.
    14. J Augusto Felício & Vítor Caldeirinha & Andreia Dionísio, 2015. "The effect of port and container terminal characteristics on terminal performance," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 17(4), pages 493-514, December.
    15. Saaty, Thomas L. & Vargas, Luis G., 1987. "Uncertainty and rank order in the analytic hierarchy process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 107-117, October.
    16. Fangni Zhang & Daniel J. Graham, 2020. "Air transport and economic growth: a review of the impact mechanism and causal relationships," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 506-528, July.
    17. Fragoudaki, Alexandra & Giokas, Dimitriοs & Glyptou, Kyriaki, 2016. "Efficiency and productivity changes in Greek airports during the crisis years 2010–2014," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 306-315.
    18. Pan, Jing Yu & Truong, Dothang, 2018. "Passengers’ intentions to use low-cost carriers: An extended theory of planned behavior model," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 38-48.
    19. Redondi, Renato & Malighetti, Paolo & Paleari, Stefano, 2011. "Hub competition and travel times in the world-wide airport network," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 1260-1271.
    20. Deng, Ping & Lu, Shiqing & Xiao, Hanbin, 2013. "Evaluation of the relevance measure between ports and regional economy using structural equation modeling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 123-133.
    21. D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Daraio, Cinzia & Nastasi, Alberto, 2015. "Competition and efficiency in the Italian airport system: new insights from a conditional nonparametric frontier analysis," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 20-38.
    22. Button, Kenneth & Doh, Soogwan & Yuan, Junyang, 2010. "The role of small airports in economic development," Journal of Airport Management, Henry Stewart Publications, vol. 4(2), pages 125-136, January.
    23. Wang, Chao & Kim, Yul-Seong & Kim, Chi Yeol, 2021. "Causality between logistics infrastructure and economic development in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 49-58.
    24. Ziaul Haque Munim & Hans-Joachim Schramm, 2018. "The impacts of port infrastructure and logistics performance on economic growth: the mediating role of seaborne trade," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-19, December.
    25. Boonekamp, Thijs & Zuidberg, Joost & Burghouwt, Guillaume, 2018. "Determinants of air travel demand: The role of low-cost carriers, ethnic links and aviation-dependent employment," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 18-28.
    26. Anirut Pipatprapa & Hsiang-Hsi Huang & Ching-Hsu Huang, 2016. "A Novel Environmental Performance Evaluation of Thailand’s Food Industry Using Structural Equation Modeling and Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Techniques," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, March.
    27. Hakim, Md Mahbubul & Merkert, Rico, 2016. "The causal relationship between air transport and economic growth: Empirical evidence from South Asia," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 120-127.
    28. Costa, Tiago F.G. & Lohmann, Gui & Oliveira, Alessandro V.M., 2010. "A model to identify airport hubs and their importance to tourism in Brazil," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-11.
    29. Pot, Felix Johan & Koster, Sierdjan, 2022. "Small airports: Runways to regional economic growth?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    30. Akhavan, Mina & Ghiara, Hilda & Mariotti, Ilaria & Sillig, Cécile, 2020. "Logistics global network connectivity and its determinants. A European City network analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    31. Bensassi, Sami & Márquez-Ramos, Laura & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Suárez-Burguet, Celestino, 2015. "Relationship between logistics infrastructure and trade: Evidence from Spanish regional exports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 47-61.
    32. Elton Fernandes & Ricardo Rodrigues Pacheco, 2010. "The causal relationship between GDP and domestic air passenger traffic in Brazil," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(7), pages 569-581, July.
    33. Yoshida, Yuichiro & Fujimoto, Hiroyoshi, 2004. "Japanese-airport benchmarking with the DEA and endogenous-weight TFP methods: testing the criticism of overinvestment in Japanese regional airports," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 533-546, November.
    34. Li, Weijun & Bai, Xiwen & Yang, Dong & Hou, Yao, 2023. "Maritime connectivity, transport infrastructure expansion and economic growth: A global perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    35. Hakim, Md Mahbubul & Merkert, Rico, 2019. "Econometric evidence on the determinants of air transport in South Asian countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 120-126.
    36. Tolcha, Tassew Dufera & Bråthen, Svein & Holmgren, Johan, 2020. "Air transport demand and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa: Direction of causality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    37. Chaouk, Mohammed & Pagliari, Dr Romano & Moxon, Richard, 2020. "The impact of national macro-environment exogenous variables on airport efficiency," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    38. Li, Hongbo & Liu, Yali & Peng, Kaili, 2018. "Characterizing the relationship between road infrastructure and local economy using structural equation modeling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 17-25.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Iyer, K. Chandrashekhar & Thomas, Nivea, 2021. "An econometric analysis of domestic air traffic demand in regional airports: Evidence from India," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Mihaela Onofrei & Georgeta Vintilă & Daniel Ştefan Armeanu, 2018. "Empirical Evidence from EU-28 Countries on Resilient Transport Infrastructure Systems and Sustainable Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-34, August.
    3. Fageda, Xavier & Fioravanti, Reinaldo & Ricover, Andy & Café, Eduardo & Ansaldo, Mariano, 2023. "Econometric analysis of the determinants of air cargo services supply in Latin America and the Caribbean," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 33-44.
    4. Ali, Rafaqet & Bakhsh, Khuda & Yasin, Muhammad Asim, 2023. "Causal nexus between air transportation and economic growth in BRICS countries," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Wang, Sen & Gao, Yi, 2021. "A literature review and citation analyses of air travel demand studies published between 2010 and 2020," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    6. Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Vandermotten, Christian, 2022. "Do scale and the type of markets matter? Revisiting the determinants of passenger air services worldwide," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Rahman, Farzana & Rahman, Md. Mahmudur, 2023. "Analyzing service quality of domestic airlines in an emerging country- Bangladesh by structural equation models," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    8. Elena Cigu & Daniela Tatiana Agheorghiesei & Anca Florentina Gavriluță (Vatamanu) & Elena Toader, 2018. "Transport Infrastructure Development, Public Performance and Long-Run Economic Growth: A Case Study for the Eu-28 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Wang, Xueying & Wang, Guangbin & Li, Yucong & Cao, Dongping, 2025. "Dynamics of the air transport network in China: A geographical and socioeconomic embeddedness perspective," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Frédéric Dobruszkes & Christian Vandermotten, 2022. "Do scale and the type of markets matter? Revisiting the determinants of passenger air services worldwide," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/336304, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    11. Pot, Felix Johan & Koster, Sierdjan, 2022. "Small airports: Runways to regional economic growth?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    12. Law, Colin C.H. & Zhang, Yahua & Gow, Jeff & Vu, Xuan-Binh, 2022. "Dynamic relationship between air transport, economic growth and inbound tourism in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    13. Yetkiner, Hakan & Beyzatlar, Mehmet Aldonat, 2020. "The Granger-causality between wealth and transportation: A panel data approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 19-25.
    14. Tolcha, Tassew Dufera & Bråthen, Svein & Holmgren, Johan, 2020. "Air transport demand and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa: Direction of causality," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    15. Rayaprolu, Hema & Levinson, David, 2024. "Co-evolution of public transport access and ridership," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    16. Zhao, Bing & Wu, Hao & Wang, Nuo, 2022. "Changing characteristics of the industrial correlation and economic contribution of air transport in China: An input–output analysis," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    17. Tu Anh Trinh & Ducksu Seo & Unchong Kim & Thi Nhu Quynh Phan & Thi Hai Hang Nguyen, 2022. "Air Transport Centrality as a Driver of Sustainable Regional Growth: A Case of Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.
    18. Hanson, Daniel & Toru Delibasi, Tuba & Gatti, Matteo & Cohen, Shamai, 2022. "How do changes in economic activity affect air passenger traffic? The use of state-dependent income elasticities to improve aviation forecasts," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    19. Akinyemi, Yingigba Chioma, 2023. "Air cargo demand in Africa: Application of cointegration and error correction modelling techniques," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    20. Raihan, Asif & Voumik, Liton Chandra & Akter, Salma & Ridzuan, Abdul Rahim & Fahlevi, Mochammad & Aljuaid, Mohammed & Saniuk, Sebastian, 2024. "Taking flight: Exploring the relationship between air transport and Malaysian economic growth," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:124:y:2025:i:c:s0969699725000146. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-air-transport-management/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.