Spatial Evolution of Air Cargo Networks in Mainland China (1995–2019)

Along with the rapid development of China’s economy, the demand for air cargo in China is increasing day by day, and the air cargo network has also undergone great changes. This paper quantitatively identifies the spatial evolution characteristics of air cargo hubs and networks by statistically analyzing air cargo data from 1995 to 2019 in mainland China in order to analyze the history and current status of the development of the air cargo industry in mainland China. Finally, this paper measures the air cargo hubs and network structures by the spatial Gini coefficient. The results show that the air cargo hubs in mainland China have formed an overall hub-and-spoke structure with central cities as hubs in terms of cargo and mail throughput of each hub, while the air cargo network in mainland China is still in a mixed network state with the coexistence of linear structure and hub-and-spoke structure in terms of segment cargo volume.