Hub-and-spoke network

An airline route system that concentrates flights at central airports, where passengers transfer between routes to reach destinations without direct service.

Airline hub: An airport where an airline concentrates flights and transfers passengers between routes. It is the transfer point that lets spokes connect to one another.
Nonstop flight: A flight from origin to destination without an intermediate landing. It is the alternative to transferring at a hub for the same city pair.
Point-to-point network: A transport network that links origins and destinations directly rather than routing most journeys through central hubs. It is the principal alternative to concentrating passenger transfers at hubs.
Economies of density: Declining average costs that arise when more traffic uses the same route or network infrastructure. Concentrated traffic can help airlines sustain frequent service on hub routes.
Delta Air Lines: A major United States airline headquartered in Atlanta, operating domestic and international passenger services. Atlanta is its largest hub and illustrates a large connecting operation.
Connecting flight: A journey involving at least two flight segments, with a transfer between them. Passengers use connections at hubs to travel between destinations lacking nonstop service.
Regional airline: An airline that primarily operates shorter routes, often connecting smaller cities with larger airports. Regional services can feed passengers from smaller spokes into a major hub.
Open-jaw itinerary: A trip in which the traveler returns from a different city than the arrival city, or travels between cities by another mode. It can avoid backtracking through the same hub on a round trip.
Airline schedule delay: The difference between a flight's scheduled and actual departure or arrival time. A disruption at a busy hub can propagate across many connecting flights.
Emirates: An airline based in Dubai that operates an international network centered on Dubai International Airport. Its Dubai hub connects long-haul markets across multiple continents.

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