Research On Air Cargo Hub Location Method

With the rapid development of aviation transportation industry, the development of air cargo is more and more concerned. But in our country there doesn't exist some certain scale air cargo hubs, which, in a certain extent, restricts the development of China's air cargo. In order to promote the development of air cargo, the 12 th five-year plan from civil aviation administration of China(CAAC) is putting forward some measures to strengthen the construction of the air cargo hub, which means supporting and encouraging air cargo transportation enterprises to construct the air cargo hubs. But the theory research about the air cargo hub location is not too deep.This paper first introduces some theoretical knowledge about the air cargo hub and hub-and-spoke network, based on which, the air cargo hub and route network of the international and domestic air cargo enterprises are analyzed,and several layout models of cargo hub are proposed. Then, the paper analyses the air cargo hub location system, including the composition of air cargo hub system, the classification and features of the air cargo hub location problem, and the influencing factors and basic principles of air cargo hub location.Based on the analysis of several common hubs location models, the paper determines to use the multiple allocation of P- hub location model, and apply the tabu search algorithm to solve it. In the solving process,we use the comprehensive clustering and center of gravity location method to determine the alternative hubs. As the hubs are determined, we can construct the hub-and-spoke network through the application of the multiple attribute decision.Finally, the paper takes China international cargo airlines as the case to validate the multiple distribution of P-hubs location model and tabu search algorithm, the result indicates they are reasonable. So it can provide reference for air cargo enterprises to determine the hubs and construct the freight network, as well as improve the system of air cargo hub location theory.