High-speed rail and air transport integration in hub-and-spoke networks: The role of airports

Air transport and high-speed rail (HSR) are not simple competitors. Indeed, air and HSR services can be complements on long-haul routes served by connecting flights through a hub airport. This complementarity creates room for cooperation between airlines and HSR operators, particularly relating to international connecting passengers. Airport managers are also interested in such agreements since they affect, among others, air traffic volumes and the demand for slots on the part of the airlines. In this framework, we develop a theoretical model to study transport operators’ incentives to cooperate, and the strategic role of airports in facilitating or dampening airline-HSR cooperation via the airport per passenger fee. In our model, transport operators cooperate to offer a bundle of domestic HSR and international air services via a multimodal hub airport. We show that the scope for cooperation depends on two main factors, that is, the related sunk costs and mode substitution between air and HSR services.