Potential opportunities for Asian airports to develop self-connecting passenger markets

Abstract

“Self-connection” involves an approach whereby travelers choose to buy two or more separate tickets and transfer at intermediate airports by themselves. While self-connection markets are growing around the world, some airports such as London Gatwick and Milan Malpensa have introduced special services to assist self-connecting passengers. In order to understand the potential opportunities of self-connectivity for Asian airports, this research applies the HCPI (Hub Connectivity Performance Index) and HEI (Hub Efficiency Index) to measure the connectivity at major Asian airports. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is used to analyze the market position and future strategy of each airport. The results reveal that Singapore (SIN), Tokyo Narita (NRT), Kuala Lumpur (KUL) and Seoul Incheon (ICN) are the largest potential transfer airports for LCC self-connecting passengers and need to increase their LCC self-connectivity growth rates to become stars in this market. Flights between the Asia Pacific and North America are potential routes for NRT and ICN to develop LCC self-connectivity, while flights between the Asia Pacific and Europe are potential routes for SIN and KUL to develop such connectivity.