A nodal regional analysis of air transport in Europe. Country and airport flows for measuring european integration

Aim of this paper is to examine how and to what extent the European skies are ‘open’ in terms of the connections between the different member states, and if it is possible to observe integration and interaction typical of a connected space or, rather, if still regional / national patterns arise, thus suggesting that the level of integration of transport is still limited and efforts still must be paid to reach a ‘unique’ market. We use Eurostat database of air passengers’ flows between the 27 EU countries. Using graph theory and network analysis, borrowed from Nystuen and Dacey’s analysis of flow data, implemented in a GIS environment developing ad hoc procedures, we aim at exploring the characteristics of the ‘unique European sky’ to understand how member states appear integrated in terms of air traffic flows and what global – regional hierarchies can be observed. Some global European trends as well as local dominances will appear.