Evaluation of Homogenization in Metroplex Operations Based on Multi-Dimensional Indicators

The development of a Multiple Airport Region (MAR) could lead to fierce competition. To evaluate the level of homogenization between airports in a MAR, a homogenization evaluation method based on multi-dimensional indicators was developed. A multi-dimensional indicator system is proposed that takes into account infrastructure, integrated support, operational efficiency and airline networks. Then the Critic method and the Delphi method are used to assign hierarchical weights for each dimension of the indicators. The multi-layer homogenization matrix of the airport pairs within the MAR is derived. For airport pairs with high comprehensive homogenization, suggestions are provided according to analysis of the indicators. This study paper selected three typical MARs internationally to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed approach. The airport pairs with high a homogenous coefficient (greater than 0.5) were selected to analyze the reasons causing high homogeneity. Results show that the multi-dimensional indicators and hierarchical fusion captured the characteristics of the homogenization of MAR. Most airport pairs in New York MAR and in London MAR had strong differentiation of route network layout, airport pairs in Greater Bay MAR had ambiguous division of labor and low homogenization of route network, except CAN and SZX airports. Suggestions are discussed separately to mitigate the homogeneity of the airports in the MAS, thus, to improve the operation performance of the MARs.