(TAN): London has seen a 67% decline in international air connectivity over the last year according to newly published data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Consequently, the UK capital has fallen from first to eighth in the list of the world’s most connected cities, with the Chinese city of Shanghai occupying the top spot followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu, said media reports.
Heathrow airport warned of a “catastrophic decline” earlier this month, as traffic dropped by 82% in October. The Covid-19 pandemic continued to have “a devastating impact on international connectivity, shaking up the rankings of the world’s most connected cities,” according to IATA.
Another destination witnessing a dramatic decline in connectivity is New York. With a decline of 66%, the city that was third in the rankings in 2019, failed to secure a place among the top ten this year. Tokyo and Bangkok also dropped out of the ten, seeing a decline in connectivity of 65% and 81% respectively.
According to reports, cities with a large domestic network now dominate in the rankings as international air travel continues to be decimated by the pandemic. Aside from the four Chinese cities, the US cities of Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta also fared relatively well.
While Chicago moved up from tenth to fifth position, Dallas and Atlanta entered the list at ninth and tenth respectively.
“There are no winners, just some players that suffered fewer injuries,” Sebastian Mikosz, IATA’s senior vice president for Member External Relations, was quoted as saying by the media. “In a short period of time we have undone a century of progress in bringing people together and connecting markets. The message we must take from this study is the urgent need to rebuild the global air transport network.”
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In terms of continents both Africa and Europe saw the biggest decline in connectivity (-93%), followed by Latin America (-91%), the Middle East (-88%) and Asia-Pacific (-76%). The air connectivity index measures how well connected a country’s cities are to other cities around the world, which is critical for trade, tourism, investment and other economic flows.
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