Building an Outbound Flights Spider Map in Tableau Using MAKEPOINT and MAKELINE

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A clear, simple walkthrough of how I built this interactive flow map.

Spider maps look complex, but the idea behind them is simple: pick one place as the center, then draw lines from it to everywhere it connects. In Tableau, this becomes much easier with two built-in functions—MAKEPOINT() and MAKELINE(). They let you plot origins and destinations without doing a physical self-join.

For this project, I used an airport dataset from Kaggle and built an interactive spider map where you can pick an origin airport and see all of its outbound routes. You can explore it here: Public Tableau Spider Map.

Why I Built This

I wanted to visualize how many flights leave a particular airport. A spider map made the most sense because flight data is natural movement data. I followed a helpful tutorial on Youtube that leverages MAKEPOINT and MAKELINE instead of a self-join. It keeps the setup cleaner and lets Tableau do the work.

My main improvement was adding a sidebar filter for origin airports. Choose an airport, and the spider map redraws instantly.

The Data

Dataset: https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/flashgordon/usa-airport-dataset

For this visualization, we only need:

  • IATA Airport Code

  • Latitude

  • Longitude

  • City/State (optional)

As long as you have coordinates for each airport and a list of which airports connect to which, the method works.

How to Build the Spider Map (The Simple MAKEPOINT / MAKELINE Way)

You don't need a self-join. All you need are the latitude and longitude fields for:

  • Origin Airport

  • Destination Airport

Step 1: Create Points for Origin and Destination

In Tableau, create two calculated fields:

Origin Point

MAKEPOINT([Origin Latitude], [Origin Longitude])

Destination Point

MAKEPOINT([Destination Latitude], [Destination Longitude])

These turn raw coordinates into actual spatial points Tableau can draw.

Step 2: Create the Line Connecting Them

Now create a line: Route Line

MAKELINE([Origin Point], [Destination Point])

This gives you a clean geometric line for each route.

No joins. No dual-axis trick. Just one geometry field.

Step 3: Put the Line on the Map

  • Drag Route Line to the view

  • Set the mark type to Line

  • Add Origin Airport to Filters

  • Show the filter

Now Tableau draws a spider web directly from your chosen origin.

Step 4: Add Marks for the Points (Optional but Nice)

If you want dots on airports:

  • Create a second layer using Destination Point

  • Set mark type to Circle

  • Reduce size

This makes the map easier to read.

Step 5: Clean Up the Map

A good spider map keeps the background quiet.

To do this:

  • Use a dark or muted map style

  • Drop transparency slightly on the lines

  • Hide unnecessary labels

  • Reduce line thickness

Let the movement tell the story.

What This Visualization Shows

A simple spider map reveals patterns that numbers hide:

  • Which airports operate as hubs

  • Regional vs. national reach

  • Long-haul vs. short-haul behavior

  • Gaps in connectivity

  • Differences between small and major airports

With the origin filter, you can explore dozens of patterns in seconds.

Where Spider Maps Are Useful

Spider maps are great wherever something moves from one point to many:

  • Flight routes

  • Delivery routes

  • Telecommunications links

  • Migration patterns

  • Supply-chain expansion

  • Emergency logistics

Anywhere there’s an origin and many destinations, a spider map works.

Final Thoughts

Using MAKEPOINT and MAKELINE kept this project simple. It’s a good reminder that Tableau can solve spatial problems without heavy data prep. The map is clean, interactive, and easy to explain.

You can explore the final version on my Tableau Public profile. I hope this walkthrough helps you build your own.

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