NEW YORK - Before the coronavirus, a decades-long aviation boom spawned a network of nearly 50,000 air routes that traversed the world.Border closures, nationwide lockdowns and the fear of catching the coronavirus from fellow passengers have crippled commercial travel. As thousands of domestic and international connections disappear completely from airline timetables, the world has suddenly stopped shrinking.
In late January, 47,756 operational routes criss-crossed the world, more than half of them in the United States, Western Europe and Northeast Asia, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide.In Hervey Bay, a small tourist town with a population of of 52,000 on Australia's east coast, residents are mourning their last direct air connection with Sydney, the nation's main domestic and international gateway.
"It will take a good four or five years for connectivity to return to the same level we saw at the end of 2019," said Mr Subhas Menon, director-general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, which represents regional carriers including Singapore Airlines, China Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways."Some of these routes may never be put back," Mr Menon said.
And Singapore Airlines earlier this week restarted its non-stop service between Singapore and New York, the world's longest flight, as the country struggles to retain its relevance as a global aviation hub.
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