Suppose three of the ten cities are to be developed as hubs. A hub is a city which is connected with every other city by direct flights each way, both in the morning as well as in the evening. The only direct flights which will be scheduled are originating and/or terminating in one of the hubs. Then the minimum number of direct flights that need to be scheduled so that the underlying principle of the airline to serve all the ten cities is met without visiting more than one hub during one trip is:
96
Number of hub cities = 3
Number of direct flights among the hub cities =3C2×4=12 Number of direct flights from 3 hub cities to 7 non-hub cities =3C1×7C1×4=84
Total number of direct flights = 84 + 12 = 96