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Study on Structural Characteristics of China’s Passenger Airline Network Based on Network Motifs Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Ying Jin

    (School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin 130024, China)

  • Ye Wei

    (School of Geographical Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, Jilin 130024, China)

  • Chunliang Xiu

    (College of Jang Ho Architecture, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110169, China)

  • Wei Song

    (Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40292, USA)

  • Kaixian Yang

    (Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA)

Abstract

The air passenger transport network system is an important agent of social and economic connections between cities. Studying on the airline network structure and providing optimization strategies can improve the airline industry sustainability evolution. As basic building blocks of broad networks, the concept of network motifs is cited in this paper to apply to the structural characteristic analysis of the passenger airline network. The ENUMERATE SUBGRAPHS (G, k) algorithm is used to identify the motifs and anti-motifs of the passenger airline network in China. A total of 37 airline companies are subjected to motif identification and exploring the structural and functional characteristics of the airline networks corresponding to different motifs. These 37 airline companies are classified according to the motif concentration curves into three development stages, which include mono-centric divergence companies at the low-level development stage, transitional companies at the intermediate development stage, and multi-centric and hierarchical companies at the advanced development stage. Finally, we found that adjusting the number of proper network motifs is useful to optimize the overall structure of airline networks, which is profitable for air transport sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Ying Jin & Ye Wei & Chunliang Xiu & Wei Song & Kaixian Yang, 2019. "Study on Structural Characteristics of China’s Passenger Airline Network Based on Network Motifs Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:9:p:2484-:d:226586
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Zongbei Shi & Honghai Zhang & Yike Li & Jinlun Zhou, 2023. "Air Traffic Sector Network: Motif Identification and Resilience Evaluation Based on Subgraphs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.
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    5. Wei, Ye & Jin, Ying & Ma, Dingyu & Xiu, Chunliang, 2021. "Impact of colored motif characteristics on the survivability of passenger airline networks in China," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 566(C).
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