The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data, which reveals that the coronavirus crisis has had a devastating impact on international connectivity, shaking up the rankings of the world's most connected cities. London, the world's number one most connected city in September 2019, has seen a 67% decline in connectivity. By September 2020, it had fallen to number eight. Shanghai is now the top-ranked city for connectivity with the top four most connected cities all in China-Shanghai, Beijing. New York has seen a 66-pc fall in connectivity, while Tokyo fell 65 pc, Bangkok fell 81 pc, Hong Kong fell 81 pc also, and Seoul fell 69 pc. All these locations are no longer on the top ten most connected cities list. The study reveals that cities with large numbers of domestic—rather than international—connections now dominate, showing the extent to which international connectivity has been shut down.
International Air Transport Association’s 76th Annual General Meeting called on governments to safely re-open borders using testing. Sebastian Mikosz, IATA's Senior Vice President for Member External Relations. Said, “The systematic testing of travelers is the immediate solution to rebuilding the connectivity that we have lost. The technology exists. The guidelines for implementation have been developed. Now we need to implement before the damage to the global air transport network becomes irreparable,”
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