Abstract
This study explores the route expansion process and network performance of four major LCCs in China since their inception, analyzing their tactical actions toward HSR and the underlying drivers of these trends. The findings suggest that the Chinese LCCs' routes had undergone an expansion from east to west, with a gradual westward shifting trend. Compared with FSAs, the LCCs prefer to establish new services in Southern China, which has a higher level of economic development and population density. Of course, the LCCs do not blindly pursue new routes between regions, instead, they continuously improve the internal route network to gain a stronger market position. This strategy is manifested in the fluctuating increase in the flying distance of newly opened LCC routes (Calzada and Fageda, 2019). This might be in response to the competition from FSAs and HSR. LCCs gradually abandon short-haul routes while concentrating capacity on routes exceeding 800 km, which is consistent with Wang et al. (2017)'s finding. Meanwhile, the LCCs improved the performance of their networks, with different change patterns. Furthermore, the LCCs all experienced a significant surge in the number of new routes but reduced the routes within 800 km. There are various potential explanations, one of which should be that the LCCs seek to launch new routes not served by HSR, as well as longer routes HSR cannot effectively support.
NETL
NSTL
Elsevier