Analysis on centrality index of air network

Abstract

Air transport network plays a major role in catalyzing globalization through facilitating the movement of goods and people between countries. This study analysed the connectivity of the airline network of the national carrier of Sri Lanka and identified the critical airports and their impact to the network. The study considered the network of Sri Lankan Airlines for the analysis and used flight stats data for data collection. Dubai International Airport (DXB), Delhi International Airport (DEL) and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) had the highest degree centrality in the network, indicating strong connectivity with other nodes in the network. Thus the most critical airports in the network. While Gan International Airport (GAN) and Seychells International Airport (SEZ) indicated the lowest degree centrality. Degree centrality of the nodes in the networked changed when critical airports were removed from the network. Combaitre International Airport (CJB) is having the highest closeness centrality indicating the ease of movement between the nodes. Removing the critical airports with from the network affected the closeness centrality score of the nodes.