Image Credit: EmiratesĪccording to strategic aviation consultant Stephen Holloway, “An airline hub may be defined as an airport that receives many passengers or as an airport that serves as an operating base of an airline, whether or not the airline allows for connecting traffic.” Let’s get started.Īn airline hub serves as an intermediate connection point to other destinations globally. In this guide, we’ll investigate what an airline hub is, why it’s important, and then break all of the major airlines down into their hub cities. Simply put, it’s much easier to strive for operational optimization if you only have to worry about 1 core city through which you operate flights. Hubs have become pervasive throughout aviation. When an airline is formed, they’ll usually designate a specific city from which its operational tendrils form a web. Despite aviation being a low-margin business due to the volatility of oil, high CapEx, and several different factors, it is still one of the most important businesses in the world. The great COVID-19 outbreak of 2019-2022 has more or less brought the world to its knees in dramatic fashion.Ī global pandemic has translated into economic seizures, especially due to the massive reduction in travel and therefore aviation. As a subset of leisure, tourism, and logistics industries, airlines have never been more crucial than today.

The Airline Hubs for the Top 115+ Major AirlinesĬommercial aviation is one of the world’s most fascinating sectors.

Map of southwest airlines destinations