The Impact of COVID-19 on the Air Transportation Network

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic have changed our lives and caused severe social, economic and environmental disruption worldwide. This paper examines the impact of coronavirus outbreak and subsequent wave of lockdowns and travel restrictions on air transportation from the network perspective. Using the air traffic data from 2019 to 2021, we examine how the structure of the network has changed both globally and locally. We quantify the similarity of air transportation network for adjacent years and compare it to the pre-pandemic period. The connectivity configuration of countries is also considered. Finally, we identify the most important participants of the air transportation industry and reveal countries with the largest change of centrality during the pandemic.