A Visualized Bibliometric Analysis of Mapping Research Trends Of Airline Business Models (ABMs) from 1985 to 2021

Year 2022, , 387 - 403, 22.11.2022

Gökhan Tanrıverdi , Mehmet Şahin Durak

https://doi.org/10.30518/jav.1172121

Abstract

Deregulation and liberalization acts have contributed to the emergence of various airline business models (ABMs) in the airline industry by putting competition ahead. Influenced by catastrophic crises, increased competition, and changes in customer needs and expectations, airlines have had to innovate their business models or converge them with others over time. Thus, the topic of ABM has attracted tremendous scholarly attention. However, the extant literature lacks a visualized bibliometric study that investigates the evolution of ABM in depth. In this context, this paper employs a comprehensive visualized bibliometric analysis through CiteSpace software to present the evolution of the topic “airline business model” and its possible trends in the post Covid-19 era by benefiting 652 articles on ABMs published during the period from 1985 to 2021. The results reveal that studies on ABMs have increased especially over the past few years, and Journal of Air Transport Management is the leader outlet preferred by authors on this topic. In addition, although studies on low-cost carriers have an obvious dominance over studies on other ABMs, the results provide some evidence that studies on long-haul business models will increasingly continue in the future.

Keywords

Airline business model, Business model evolution, Long-haul business models, Visualized bibliometric analysis, CiteSpace

References

• Adiloğlu-Yalçınkaya. L.. & Besler. S. (2021). Institutional factors influencing business models: The case of Turkish Airlines. Journal of Air Transport Management. 91.
• Akamavi. R.K.. Mohamed. E.. Pellmann. K.. Xu. Y. (2015). Key determinants of passenger loyalty in the low-cost airline business. Tour. Manag. 46 (0). 528-545
• Albers. S.. Daft. J.. Stabenow. S.. & Rundshagen. V. (2020). The long-haul low-cost airline business model: A disruptive innovation perspective. Journal of Air Transport Management. 89.
• Alexandridis. G.. Kavussanos. M. G.. Kim. C. Y.. Tsouknidis. D. A.. & Visvikis. I. D. (2018). A survey of shipping finance research: Setting the future research agenda. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. 115. 164–212.
• Amankwah-Amoah. J.. Khan. Z.. & Osabutey. E. L. (2021). COVID-19 and business renewal: Lessons and insights from the global airline industry. International Business Review. 1-10.
• ATAG. (2020). Global Fact Sheet Septemper 2020. Air Transport Action Group.
• ATAG. (2021. 04 06). Facts figures. Air Transport Action Group: https://www.atag.org/facts-figures.html
• Avogadro. N.. Malighetti. P.. Redondi. R.. & Salanti. A. (2021). A tale of airline competition: When full-service carriers undercut low-cost carriers fares. Journal of Air Transport Management. 92.
• Bakır. M.. Akan. Ş.. Özdemir. E.. & Atalık. Ö. (2022). A bibliometric analysis of airport service quality. Journal of Air Transport Management. 104.
• Barbot. C.. Costa. Á.. & Sochirca. E. (2008). Airlines performance in the new market context: A comparative productivity and efficiency analysis. Journal of Air Transport Management. 14(5). 270–274.
• Barrett. S. D. (2004). How do the demands for airport services differ between full-service carriers and low-cost carriers? Journal of air transport management. 10(1). 33-39.
• Bauer. L. B.. Bloch. D.. & Merkert. R. (2020). Ultra Long-Haul: An emerging business model accelerated by COVID-19. Journal of Air Transport Management. 89.
• Bautista-Bernal. I.. Quintana-García. C.. & Marchante-Lara. M. (2021). Research trends in occupational health and social responsibility: A bibliometric analysis. Safety Science. 137.
• Belussi. F.. Orsi. L.. & Savarese. M. (2019). Mapping Business Model Research: A Document Bibliometric Analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Management. 35(3).
• Bergiante. N. C. R.. Santos. M. P. S.. & Espírito Santo. R. A. (2015). Bibliometric study of the relationship between business model and air transport. Scientometrics. 105(2). 941–958.
• Bieger. T.. & Wittmer. A. (2006). Air transport and tourism—Perspectives and challenges for destinations. airlines and governments. Journal of air transport management. 12(1). 40-46.
• Bouwer. J.. Saxon. S.. & Wittkamp. N. (2021). Back to the future? Airline sector poised for change post-COVID-19. In McKinsey (Vol. 22). Retrieved from https://blog.sodipress.com/wp-content/uploads/ 2021/08/back-to-the-future-airline-sector-poised-for-change-post-covid-19_vf.pdf% 0Ahttps:// www.mckinsey.com/industries/travel-logistics-and-infrastructure/our-insights/ back -to-the-future-airline-sector-poised-
• Bpharm. G. M. (2020). A Lens on the Post-COVID-19 “New Normal” for Imaging Departments. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences. 361-363.
• Brockmann. D.. & Helbing. D. (2013). The hidden geometry of complex. network-driven contagion phenomena. Science.
• Cancino. C.. Merigó. J. M.. Coronado. F.. Dessouky. Y.. & Dessouky. M. (2017). Forty years of Computers & Industrial Engineering: A bibliometric analysis. Computers and Industrial Engineering. 113. 614–629.
• Chanbour. H.. El Masri. J.. Bsat. S.. Bsat. A.. Jiblawi. A.. & Sunna. T. (2021). A Bibliometric Analysis of Neurosurgery Research Productivity in Arab Countries Between 2005 and 2019. World Neurosurgery. 154. e313–e319.
• Chen. G.. & Xiao. L. (2016). Selecting publication keywords for domain analysis in bibliometrics: A comparison of three methods. Journal of Informetrics.
• Chen. X.. & Liu. Y. (2020). Visualization analysis of high-speed railway research based on CiteSpace. Transport Policy. 85. 1–17.
• Corbo. L. (2017). In search of business model configurations that work: Lessons from the hybridization of Air Berlin and JetBlue. Journal of Air Transport Management. 64. 139–150.
• Curley. A.. Dichter. A.. Krishnan. V.. Riedel. R.. & Saxon. S. (2020). Coronavirus: Airlines brace for severe turbulence. McKinsey & Company.
• Demir. E.. Yaşar. E.. Özkoçak. V.. & Yıldırım. E. (2020). The evolution of the field of legal medicine: A holistic investigation of global outputs with bibliometric analysis. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 69.
• Dixit. A.. & Jakhar. S. K. (2021). Airport capacity management: A review and bibliometric analysis. Journal of Air Transport Management. 91.
• Dobruszkes. F. (2006). An analysis of European low-cost airlines and their networks. Journal of Transport Geography. 14(4). 249-264.
• Dobruszkes. F. (2011). High-speed rail and air transport competition in Western Europe: A supply-oriented perspective. Transport policy. 18(6). 870-879.
• Dobruszkes. F. (2013). The geography of European low-cost airline networks: a contemporary analysis. J. Transp. Geogr. 28. 75–88.
• Donthu. N.. Kumar. S.. Mukherjee. D.. Pandey. N.. & Lim. W. M. (2021). How to conduct a bibliometric analysis: An overview and guidelines. Journal of Business Research. 133. 285–296.
• Donthu. N.. Kumar. S.. Pandey. N.. & Gupta. P. (2021). Forty years of the International Journal of Information Management: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Information Management. 57.
• Dresner. M.. Lin. J. S. C.. & Windle. R. (2017). The impact of low-cost carriers on airport and route competition. In Low Cost Carriers (pp. 241-260). Routledge.
• European Commission. . (2020). Future of Transport: Update on the economic impacts of COVID-19. The European Commission's science and knowledge service.
• Escobar-Rodríguez. T.. & Carvajal-Trujillo. E. (2014). Online purchasing tickets for low cost carriers: An application of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. Tourism Management. 43. 70-88.
• Ferreira. J. J.. Fernandes. C. I.. Schiavone. F.. & Mahto. R. V. (2021). Sustainability in family business – A bibliometric study and a research agenda. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 173.
• Foroudi. P.. Akarsu. T. N.. Marvi. R.. & Balakrishnan. J. (2021). Intellectual evolution of social innovation: A bibliometric analysis and avenues for future research trends. Industrial Marketing Management. 93. 446–465.
• Francis. G. et al. (2003). Airport–airline interaction: the impact of low-cost carriers on two European airports. Journal of Air Transport Management 9. 267–273.
• Francis. G.. Humphreys. I. M.. & Ison. S. G. (2004). Airports’ perspectives on the growth of low-cost airlines and the remodelling of the airport-airline relationship. Tourism Management. 25. 507–514.
• Francis. G.. Humphreys. I.. Ison. S.. Aiken. M. (2006). Where next for low cost airlines? A spatial and temporal comparative study. Journal of Transport Geography 14 (2). 83–94.
• Franke. M. (2004). Competition between network carriers and low-cost carriers - Retreat battle or breakthrough to a new level of efficiency? Journal of Air Transport Management. 10(1). 15–21.
• Gillen. D.. & Lall. A. (2004). Competitive advantage of low-cost carriers: some implications for airports. Journal of Air Transport Management. 10(1). 41-50.
• Graham. B.. Shaw. J.. 2008. Low-cost airlines in Europe: reconciling liberalization and sustainability. Geoforum 39 (3). 1439–1451.
• Grimme. W.. Bingemer. S.. & Maertens. S. (2020). An analysis of the prospects of ultra-long-haul airline operations using passenger demand data. Transportation Research Procedia. 51. 208–216.
• Guo. Y. M.. Huang. Z. L.. Guo. J.. Guo. X. R.. Li. H.. Liu. M. Y.. Nkeli. M. J. (2021). A bibliometric analysis and visualization of blockchain. Future Generation Computer Systems. 116. 316–332.
• Guzeller. C. O.. & Celiker. N. (2019). Bibliometrical analysis of Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. 24(1). 108–120.
• Hou. M.. Wang. K.. & Yang. H. (2021). Hub airport slot Re-allocation and subsidy policy to speed up air traffic recovery amid COVID-19 pandemic --- case on the Chinese airline market. Journal of Air Transport Management. 1-13.
• Hsiu-Ying Kao. G.. Wang. S. W.. & Farquhar. J. D. (2020). Modeling Airline Crisis Management Capability: Brand attitude. brand credibility and intention. Journal of Air Transport Management. 89.
• Ji. Y. G.. Tao. W.. & Rim. H. (2020). Mapping corporate social responsibility research in communication: A network and bibliometric analysis. Public Relations Review. 46(5).
• Jiang. C.. Bhat. C. R.. & Lam. W. H. K. (2020). A bibliometric overview of Transportation Research Part B: Methodological in the past forty years (1979–2019). Transportation Research Part B: Methodological. 138. 268–291.
• Jiang. H. (2013). Service quality of low-cost long-haul airlines – The case of Jetstar Airways and AirAsia X. Journal of Air Transport Management. 26. 20–24.
• Jogaratnam. G.. Chon. K.. McCleary. K.. Mena. M.. & Yoo. J. (2005). An analysis of institutional contributors to three major academic tourism journals: 1992-2001. Tourism Management. 26(5). 641–648.
• Jumar. U. (2020). Annual review 2020. In at - Automatisierungstechnik (Vol. 68).
• Khanra. S.. Dhir. A.. Kaur. P.. & Mäntymäki. M. (2021). Bibliometric analysis and literature review of ecotourism: Toward sustainable development. Tourism Management Perspectives. 37.
• Kim. Y. K.. & Lee. H. R. (2011). Customer satisfaction using low cost carriers. Tourism management. 32(2). 235-243.
• Kivipelto. M. (2011). World’s most prolific researcher in Alzheimer’s disease: Professor Bengt Winblad. European Geriatric Medicine.
• Klophaus. R.. Conrady. R.. & Fichert. F. (2012). Low cost carriers going hybrid: Evidence from Europe. Journal of Air Transport Management. 23. 54–58.
• Koc. E.. & Boz. H. (2014). Triangulation in tourism research: A bibliometric study of top three tourism journals. Tourism Management Perspectives. 12. 9–14.
• Leong. L.Y.. Hew. T.S.. Lee. V.H.. Ooi. K.B. (2015). An SEM-artificial-neural-network analysis of the relationships between SERVPERF. customer satisfaction and loyalty among low-cost and full-service airline. Expert Syst. Appl. 42. 6620e6634.
• Li. X.. Ma. E.. & Qu. H. (2017). Knowledge mapping of hospitality research − A visual analysis using CiteSpace. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 60. 77–93.
• Mathurin. P.. Aliaj. O.. & Fontanella-Khan. J. (2020). Pandemic triggers wave of billion-dollar US bankruptcies. Retrieved from https://www.ft.com/content/277dc354-a870-4160-9117-b5b0dece5360
• Merigó. J. M.. Miranda. J.. Modak. N. M.. Boustras. G.. & de la Sotta. C. (2019). Forty years of Safety Science: A bibliometric overview. Safety Science. 115. 66–88.
• Merkert. R.. & Hensher. D. A. (2011). The impact of strategic management and fleet planning on airline efficiency - a random effects tobit model based on dea efficiency scores. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 45(7). 686–695.
• Modak. N. M.. Merigó. J. M.. Weber. R.. Manzor. F.. & Ortúzar. J. de D. (2019). Fifty years of Transportation Research journals: A bibliometric overview. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 120. 188–223.
• Moher. D.. Liberati. A.. Tetzlaff. J.. & Altman. D. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. BMJ (Online). Vol. 339. pp. 332–336.
• Mongeon. P.. & Paul-Hus. A. (2016). The journal coverage of Web of Science and Scopus: a comparative analysis. Scientometrics. 106(1). 213–228.
• Mrázová. M.. & Kazda. A. (2021). The direction of airlines business models - up or down? (Post Covid-19 crisis - case study). INCAS Bulletin. 13(1). 263–274.
• Mulet-Forteza. C.. Genovart-Balaguer. J.. Mauleon-Mendez. E.. & Merigó. J. M. (2019). A bibliometric research in the tourism. leisure and hospitality fields. Journal of Business Research.
• O’Connell. J. F.. & Williams. G. (2005). Passengers’ perceptions of low cost airlines and full service carriers: A case study involving Ryanair. Aer Lingus. Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines. Journal of air transport management. 11(4). 259-272.
• Pereira. D. da S.. & Soares de Mello. J. C. C. B. (2021). Efficiency evaluation of Brazilian airlines operations considering the Covid-19 outbreak. Journal of Air Transport Management. 91.
• Ramkumar. S.. Kartheeswaran. S.. Kesavan. M. B.. Lavakumar. V.. Elanjiyam. G.. Thamaraiselvi. G.. & Priya. B. S. (2020). A bibliometric study on soft computing techniques and applications in top most populated asian countries. Materials Today: Proceedings. 37(Part 2). 2938–2946.
• Rousseeuw. P. J. (1987). Silhouettes: A graphical aid to the interpretation and validation of cluster analysis. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics. 20(C). 53–65.
• Saha. G. C. (2009). Service quality. satisfaction. and behavioural intentions: A study of low‐cost airline carriers in Thailand. Managing Service Quality: An International Journal.
• See. K. F.. Ülkü. T.. Forsyth. P.. & Niemeier. H. M. (2022). Twenty years of airport efficiency and productivity studies: A machine learning bibliometric analysis. Research in Transportation Business and Management.
• Sheng. J.. Amankwah‐Amoah. J.. Khan. Z.. & Wang. X. (2020). COVID‐19 Pandemic in the New Era of Big Data Analytics: Methodological Innovations and Future Research Directions. British Journal of Management.
• Song. K.-H.. & Choi. S. (2020). A Study on the Behavioral Change of Passengers on Sustainable Air Transport after COVID-19. Sustainability. 1-18.
• Su. M.. Peng. H.. & Li. S. (2021). A visualized bibliometric analysis of mapping research trends of machine learning in engineering (MLE). Expert Systems with Applications. 186.
• Tanrıverdi. G.. Bakır. M.. & Merkert. R. (2020). What can we learn from the JATM literature for the future of aviation post Covid-19? - A bibliometric and visualization analysis. Journal of Air Transport Management. 89.
• Tanrıverdi. G.. & Küçük Yılmaz. A. (2021). The Transformation of Strategic Airline Alliances and Airline Joint Ventures: Where Are They Headıng? Independent Journal of Management & Production. 12(1).
• Tian. X.. Geng. Y.. Zhong. S.. Wilson. J.. Gao. C.. Chen. W.. Hao. H. (2018). A bibliometric analysis on trends and characters of carbon emissions from transport sector. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment.
• Tuchen. S.. Arora. M.. & Blessing. L. (2020). COVID-19. Airport user experience unpacked: Conceptualizing its potential in the face of. Journal of Air Transport Management. 89-99. van Nunen. K.. Li. J.. Reniers. G.. & Ponnet. K. (2018). Bibliometric analysis of safety culture research. Safety Science. Vol. 108. pp. 248–258.
• Wang. K.. Zhang. A.. & Zhang. Y. (2018). Key determinants of airline pricing and air travel demand in China and India: Policy. ownership. and LCC competition. Transport Policy. 63. 80–89.
• WorldBank. (2021). Air Transport. Understanding Poverty Transport. Retrieved from https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport/brief/airtransport
• Xu. Z.. Wang. X.. Wang. X.. & Skare. M. (2021). A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of entrepreneurship and crisis literature published from 1984 to 2020. Journal of Business Research. 135. 304–318.
• Yakath Ali. N. S.. Yu. C.. & See. K. F. (2021). Four decades of airline productivity and efficiency studies: A review and bibliometric analysis. Journal of Air Transport Management. 96.
• Yıldız. R.. & Taşdemir. M. (2021). Bibliometric analysis on air cargo transportation for two decades. Journal of Aviation. 5(2). 230-240.
• Zhao. X.. Ke. Y.. Zuo. J.. Xiong. W.. & Wu. P. (2020). Evaluation of sustainable transport research in 2000–2019. Journal of Cleaner Production.
• Zhu. C.. Wu. J.. Liu. M.. Wang. L.. Li. D.. & Kouvelas. A. (2021). Recovery preparedness of global air transport influenced by COVID-19 pandemic: Policy intervention analysis. Transport Policy. 106. 54–63.