Business Standard As the aviation market in India deepens, the creation of hubs for regional connectivity, international travel, mega- tourist destinations and freight connectivity will ensure the flow of more foreign Jayant Sinha & Akhilesh Tilotia Airports and airlines share a symbiotic relationship. Large airlines make big airports their hubs: The airport gets a dedicated anchor bringing in passenger footfalls and the airline builds out a full “hub-and-spoke” model centred around this airport. Typically, large airlines operate out of hubs: Such airports are among the largest in the world. Flag carriers like Emirates (244 planes in the sky in calendar year 2015), Etihad (121 planes) and Singapore Airlines (117 planes) have made their home city of Dubai (which handled 78 million passengers in CY2015), Abu Dhabi (23 million) and Singapore (55 million) their hubs. Large commercial airlines such as American (1,064 planes) or Delta (891 planes) hub at Dallas (66 million) and ...