London, 5 October 2015: London Heathrow Airport is ranked 13 in the new OAG Megahubs Index, released today. Heathrow Airport is the largest Megahub in Europe but fails to make the ‘Top 10’ as US Megahubs continue to grow.

The OAG Megahub Index also indicates that the combined power of London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stansted airports, with their collective connectivity for self-connecting passengers travelling between low-cost carriers, also rivals major US hubs such as Chicago O’Hare and Chicago Midway International Airports.

OAG, the global leader in air travel intelligence and analytical services, created its Megahubs Index using OAG Connections Analyser, one of the industry’s most powerful analytics tool. The Megahubs Index ranks the world’s leading airports in terms of connectivity.

John Grant, senior analyst, OAG says: “The importance of well-connected Megahubs continues to increase alongside the need for efficient handling of ever-increasing capacity. We expect the Megahub model will become even more prevalent as major cities add more runways and airport infrastructure to accommodate the increased capacity. These hubs are critical to global airline efficiency and play an essential role in providing travellers with more options for reaching their final destinations.”

In the OAG Megahubs Index, US airports dominate the ‘Top 50’, with eight in the top 10 alone. London Heathrow, a constrained airport, still reaches 13th place in the ‘Top 50’ and is the only European airport in the top 30. London Heathrow has 50% better connectivity than its next closest European rivals, Frankfurt and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airports, ranked 35 and 43 respectively.

Grant continues: “Airports serving more regional markets with high frequency air services score as well or even better than large, high profile airports known for their long-haul international air services. The recent Airports Commission report highlighted the need for connectivity as a major factor in its recommendation for a third runway at London Heathrow and the OAG Index reaffirms the value of connectivity at all of the major London airports.”

“Contributing to the growth of Megahubs are low-cost carriers and the rise in self-connecting passengers. While connections have traditionally been made between airlines through code sharing agreements, today, passengers are increasingly self-connecting between low-cost carriers. Many US airports, such as Chicago Midway and Las Vegas McCarran International, are beginning to facilitate connections between low-cost flights for the traveller. In the UK, London Gatwick has recently launched a dedicated product targeted at self-connecting passengers.”

  • TOP MEGAHUBS: EUROPE

Rank

Airport Name

Code

Country

Connectivity Index

1

London Heathrow Airport

LHR

UK

692

2

Istanbul Atatürk Airport

IST

Turkey

515

3

Frankfurt Airport

FRA

Germany

447

4

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

CDG

France

411

5

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

AMS

Netherlands

388

  • TOP MEGAHUBS: GLOBAL

Rank

Airport Name

Code

Country

Connectivity Index

1

Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta InternationalAirport

ATL

USA

2503

2

Chicago O'Hare International Airport

ORD

USA

2280

3

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

DFW

USA

1940

13

London Heathrow Airport

LHR

UK

692

35

Frankfurt Airport

FRA

Germany

447

43

Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

CDG

France

411

The US continues to lead when it comes to making large airports work as Megahubs, and holds the top three spots in the Index. Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) is the largest Megahub in the world, with over 570,000 possible connections between flights arriving at ATL and flights departing within an eight hour window on a single day in August.

  • TOP MEGAHUBS: LOW-COST

Rank

Airport Name

Code

Country

Connectivity Index

1

Chicago Midway International Airport

MDW

USA

244

2

Baltimore Washington International Airport

BWI

USA

144

3

McCarran International Airport

LAS

USA

112

15

Barcelona Airport

BCN

Spain

25

22

London Gatwick Airport

LGW

UK

16

23

London Stansted Airport

STN

UK

16

The top three low-cost Megahubs are in the US and are dominated by Southwest Airlines, the original low-cost carrier (LCC). Chicago Midway Airport is the most effective low-cost Megahub in the world amongst the low-cost airline sector. In Europe, Barcelona Airport leads the way, driven by Vueling. In the UK, London Gatwick and London Stansted have a surprisingly low connectivity index.

  • TOP MEGAHUBS: FASTEST GROWING

Rank

Airport Name

Code

Country

Connections on busiest day in 2015

Increase in connections vs busiest day in 2010

Growth in connections since 2010

1

Istanbul AtatürkAirport

IST

Turkey

132,355

101,439

328%

2

Dallas Fort WorthInternational Airport

DFW

USA

389,852

81,502

26%

3

Shanghai PudongInternational Airport

PVG

China

89,698

60,616

208%

Globally, many regions are placing an emphasis on connectivity in an effort to drive increased local traffic, including trade and cargo routes to the city. Istanbul Atatürk Airport (which ranks 29th in the ‘Top 50’ Megahub Index), is the fastest growing Megahub and had four times the number of connections, or over 100,000 more, than its busiest day five years ago. With construction underway of a major new airport, Istanbul is likely to soon enter the ‘Top 10’ Megahubs Index and will certainly usurp London Heathrow in Europe.

Download the full report here.

-ENDS-

For further press information:                               

Trudi Beggs / Sam Murray

80:20 Communications

T: +44 (0)20 7664 6310

E: tbeggs@8020comms.com / smurray@8020comms.com       

 

Notes to editors:

About OAG

OAG is an air travel intelligence company that provides accurate, timely and actionable information and applications to the world’s airlines, airports, government agencies and travel-related service operators. OAG has the world’s largest network of air travel data including its definitive schedules database of more than 900 airlines and over 4,000 airports. OAG’s FlightView brand has the most extensive flight status database in the market which delivers 25 million flight status updates delivered daily and processes 1.4m requests. For more information, visit: www.oag.com and follow us on Twitter @OAG Aviation.

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