文章基本信息

标题：The Impact of COVID-19 on Air Transportation Network in the United States, Europe, and China
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作者：Xiaoqian Sun ; Sebastian Wandelt ; Hartmut Fricke 等
期刊名称：Sustainability
印刷版ISSN：2071-1050
出版年度：2021
卷号：13
期号：17
页码：9656
DOI：10.3390/su13179656
语种：English
出版社：MDPI, Open Access Journal
摘要：The air transportation industry has undergone unprecedented changes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as measured in terms of flight cancellations, aircraft retirements, airline bailouts, and disconnection of worldwide communities. In this study, we performed a cross-comparison of the impact COVID-19 had on three aviation centers of the world—the United States, Europe, and China. Methodologically, we analyzed the air transportation system as complex networks and by using time series analysis. We discovered that the peak of COVID-19 impact was around April/May 2020, followed by a strong recovery mostly in domestic subsystems. We found a homogeneous impact on the United States, a strong heterogeneous impact on Europe, and a rather short-term impact on China. Domestic flight connectivity recovered much faster than international flight connectivity, particularly for the Chinese air transportation system. Our study provided a comprehensive, data-driven analysis of the COVID-19 impact on air transportation for these three major regions, augmented by references to the rich scientific literature on this subject. We hope that our work opens up pathways to a better understanding and a higher degree of preparedness for future pandemics.