Planning strategies in Europe's single air market: A case study of Austrian airlines

This paper discusses the relationship between policy changes in the EU regarding the liberalization of air traffic, and the resulting spatial changes that are emerging in the transport networks of Europe's national airlines. Traditionally, Europe's largest carriers have been organized as discrete networks. Creation of the Single Air Market in Europe, however, will allow carriers to expand their geographic coverage, thus changing from a domestic market focus to a pan-European focus. Various planning strategies for such expansion are discussed. A graph theoretic approach utilizing basic aggregate connectivity measures is used to show the advantages of carrier partnerships and alliances using the network of Austrian Airlines as a case study.