An airline hub or hub airport is an airport used by one or more airlines to concentrate passenger traffic and flight operations. Hubs serve as transfer points to help get passengers to their final destination. It is part of the hub-and-spoke system. An airline may operate flights from several non-hub (spoke) cities to the hub airport, and passengers traveling between spoke cities connect through the hub. This paradigm creates economies of scale that allow an airline to serve city-pairs that could otherwise not be economically served on a non-stop basis. This system contrasts with the point-to-point model, in which there are no hubs and nonstop flights are instead offered between spoke cities. Hub airports also serve origin and destination (O&D) traffic.
The primary hub of British Airways is Heathrow Airport in London
Emirates aircraft at Dubai International Airport
FedEx Express aircraft at Memphis International Airport
The focus cities of JetBlue are Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York–JFK, Orlando, and San Juan.
United Airlines, Inc. is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois. United operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and all six inhabited continents primarily out of its eight hubs, with Chicago–O'Hare having the largest number of daily flights and Denver carrying the most passengers in 2023. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express.
A United Airlines Boeing 787-9 in the most recent livery landing at Beijing Capital International Airport in April 2020.
Economy seating on a Boeing 787