Airports and airlines

Formal problem statement: “Given a complete graph with n vertices. We need to color all its edges in m
n−1
colors so that each vertex has k = incident edges of each color, or state that it’s impossible.”
m
If k is even, then n is odd. Place the vertices in a circle. Connect two vertices at a distance d with an
n−1
edge of color d. Then each vertex has 2 edges of each color from 1 to . If k > 2, then we merge some
2
colors into one.
If k is odd and n is odd. Consider a graph with edges of some color. In it, the sum of degrees equals nk
— which is odd — hence it’s impossible.
If k is odd and n is even. Construct an auxiliary complete graph with n − 1 vertices, which also includes
all loops. The edge between vertices i and j is colored with the color (i + j) mod (n − 1) + 1. Now, each
vertex has one edge of each color from 1 to n − 1. But there are also extra loops and one missing vertex.
So, add a new vertex n, and replace every loop (i, i) with the edge (i, n). Still, each vertex has one edge
of each color from 1 to n − 1. If k > 1, then we merge some colors into one.

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