Shanghai named as world’s most connected city

26 Nov 2020

Shanghai has become the world’s most connected city, knocking London off the top spot, as the coronavirus crisis devastates global travel.

Whilst London reported a 67% drop in connectivity in air travel, as per airline industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA), Shanghai has moved up the ranks, with the top four most connected cities in the world now all in China, namely Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu.

IATA's air connectivity index gauges how well connected a country's cities are to other cities around the world, which is essential for trade, tourism, investment and their economies, BBC reports.

In terms of connectivity between cities, IATA says the Covid-19 pandemic has "undone a century of progress".

IATA spokesperson Sebastian Mikosz commented: "The dramatic shift demonstrates the scale at which the world's connectivity has been re-ordered over the last months.”

Major transport hubs such as London, New York and Tokyo have been greatly impacted by the radical reduction in flights to and from their cities.

Mikosz went on to say: "There are no winners, just some players that suffered fewer injuries. In a short period of time we have undone a century of progress in bringing people together and connecting markets.”

During its Golden Week holiday, around 425 million travelled around China, as per statistics from the Chinese tourism ministry.

In addition, China has been opening travel corridors and talking about travel arrangements without quarantine with several countries including Singapore and Japan.

However, the story isn’t the same in the rest of Asia. An 81% fall in connectivity has been reported in Bangkok and Hong Kong.

"Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the growth in air connectivity was a global success story," Mikosz added.

Over the past 20 years, the number of cities directly linked by air doubled, although travel costs have dropped substantially.

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