Create a MySQL query (using stored procedures?)

We have a MySQL database of all flight routes and schedules in the world, which is updated weekly. We require a freelancer to: 1) Create the proper indexes (hash indexes?) for maximum efficiency 2) Write an SQL query (perhaps using stored procedures?) that recursively searches for a specific route, given inputs of origin, destination, departure date, minimum connection time, and maximum number of connections. For example, say I wanted to find a route that took me from Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to London, United Kingdom (LHR), with a minimum of 2 hours between flights and a maximum of 2 connections. A. The query would first look at Auckland Airport (AKL), and find every possible destination and flight time available from there. B. The query would then look at all destinations available from each airport returned from the previous result (such as SYD, MEL, BNE, HKG, etc), that have flights leaving at least 2 hours after the arrival from AKL. C. The query would then look at all destinations available from *those* airports returned from the previous result that have flights leaving at least 2 hours after the arrival from the previous airports. D. Because the last airport was teh final connection, this step would look only for flights leaving at least 2 hours after the arrival which have their destination as LHR. Note that flights with less connections can (and should) be returned also. For example, if there was a direct flight between AKL and LHR, or a flight with one connection (AKL-HKG-LHR). Some flights do not operate on certain days, so day of the week is also important, and should be deciphered from departure date provided. You also need to confirm the effective_from and effective_to dates to ensure you are using the right schedule for the date. The query should be able to return a result for 2 connections in less than 10 seconds. Example data is attached and is a result of running the following query: select * from schedules WHERE (origin='AKL' OR origin='SYD' OR origin='MEL' OR origin='SIN' OR origin='HKG') AND (destination='AKL' OR destination='SYD' OR destination='MEL' OR destination='SIN' OR destination='HKG' OR destination='LHR') AND codeshare IS NULL