An exact solution algorithm for the single allocation p-hub maximal covering problem

Hub location problem has received an increasing attention from the society of researchers and practitioners in the field of logistics and telecommunication network design. In this paper, we address the single allocation p- hub maximal covering problem (SApHMCP) in which the objective is to maximize the amount of covered flows associated with origin-destination pairs in a hub-and-spoke network using a fixed number of hub facilities. A mathematical programming formulation is presented for the problem and since the problem belongs to the class of NP-hard problems, an exact algorithm based on Benders decomposition is proposed to solve it. Computational results indicate the efficiency of the proposed solution algorithm.