International Journal of Technology (2015) 5: 733-742 ISSN 2086-9614 © IJTech 2015 SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODEL FOR AIRPORT CHARACTERIZATION IN HUB- AND-SPOKE NETWORKS Eny Yuliawati 1* , Sigit P. Hadiwardoyo 1 , Bambang Susantono 1 , Tri Tjahjono 1 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI Depok, Depok 16424, Indonesia (Received: May 2015 / Revised: November 2015 / Accepted: December 2015) ABSTRACT Global revenue by passenger kilometers over the last ten years has grown at an average of 4.7 percent per year. The high growth of air transport must be offset by equivalent airport investment: perhaps even a doubling of the percentage growth of numbers of passengers. The purpose of this paper is to build a development model for investment in hub-and-spoke airport networks. The methodology developed in this paper uses systems dynamics theory. The benefit of using this approach is that the variables in the model are determined through a systems thinking process; the determination of variables through such a thinking process considers causality between variables dynamically, logically, and realistically within a complex aviation industry system. The simulation model shows that using a system dynamics approach can be used to simulate airport infrastructure investment development in a hub-and-spoke network. One of the subsystems is congestion; the result of simulation of this subsystem yields the behavioral characteristics, which show that a surge in demand (which is then offset by the provision of capacity or capacity enlargement) will eventually become stable, indicated by a lack of lines on the runway side. This means that decreases in congestion will increase passenger demand, and will also enhance potential investment in airport infrastructure. Keywords: Airport characterization; Airport infrastructure; Congestion; Hub-and-spoke network; System dynamics 1. INTRODUCTION Revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) around the world grew at an average of 4.7 percent per year over the past ten years (2000–2010); in Southeast Asia, RPK growth during the same period was 6.6 percent per year (Badan Litbang Kementerian Perhubungan, 2012). This shows that the rate of traffic growth in Southeast Asia during this period exceeded the growth rate of the rest of the world. The growth of air passengers in Indonesia, as a part of that region, is very promising, with the numbers of passengers who use air transport at 80 million/year; with approximately 6 percent of the population of Indonesia using air transportation, investment in airport infrastructure is necessary. Transport has a stronglypositive influence on economic development (Irwin & Kasardah, 1991; Button & Taylor, 2000; Van den Berg et al., 1996). In Indonesia, airport infrastructure can be differentiated by function, utilization, classification, status, type of management, and type of activities. Based on a hierarchy of functions, airportscan be grouped into the “hub” or “spoke” airport categories. Hub airports can be distinguished by their service scale (primary, secondary, and tertiary), depending on the * Corresponding author’s email: enjulia_2005@yahoo.co.id, Tel. +62-21-7270029, Fax. +62-21-7270028 Permalink/DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v6i5.1039