Structural evolution of the Brazilian airport network

The aviation sector is profitable, but sensitive to economic fluctuations, geopolitical constraints and governmental regulations. As for other means of transportation, the relation between origin and destination results in a complex map of routes, which can be complemented with information associated with the routes themselves, for instance, frequency, traffic load and distance. The theory of networks provides a natural framework for investigating the dynamics on the resulting structure. Here, we investigate the structure and evolution of the Brazilian airport network (BAN) as regards several quantities: routes, connections, passengers and cargo. Some structural features are in accordance with previous results for other airport networks. The analysis of the evolution of the BAN shows that its structure is dynamic, with changes in the relative relevance of some airports and routes. The results indicate that the connections converge to specific routes. The network shrinks at the route level but grows in number of passengers and amount of cargo, which more than doubled during the period studied.