Assessment of competitive hub status of cities in Europe and Asia from an international air traffic perspective.

The objective of this paper is to develop a refined gravity model for the quantitative assessment of competitive hub status of cities between 2000 and 2012 from the perspective of international air traffic movements. Its focus of attention is Europe and Asia, where cross border competition has been witnessed among major cities for the role as a key international air traffic hub. To this end, the research incorporates global network connectivity (GNC) as a measure of business connections into an established gravity model that previously relied on GDP per head, population and distance to account for international air links. The results confirm the dynamic change of the air transport city hierarchy, demonstrating a stronger presence of a number of previously secondly ranked cities as international air traffic hubs over this period. The paper concludes with suggestions that possible extension of geographical scope and incorporation of domestic air traffic could enrich the insight of this approach. • Hub status of cities is assessed from an international air traffic perspective. • Networks of inter-city air traffic flows in Europe and Asia are explored. • Business connectivity is the most powerful in explaining international air links. • Secondly ranked cities are now more prominent in the region's urban hierarchies. • New airports and integrators' hubs have significant effect on cities' mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]