The centrality of Italian airports before and after the COVID-19 period: what happened?

Abstract

Air transport in Italy accounts for around 1,8% of national production and employment. This sector has undergone a series of transformations during the recent pandemic period. The main focus of this research is the analysis of the network of national airports with more than 50.000 passengers per year both outbound and inbound and the estimation of their centrality in the presence of significant exogenous events such as the recent pandemic. The change in centrality was examined over the period 2019-2021. The methods of network analysis were applied and the results show an increased and growing centrality of some southern airports in the network, a downsizing of Rome Fiumicino airport during the pandemic period and a marginalisation in the national network of some smaller airports in the centre-north. This first step in the research lays the foundations for better actions to promote sustainable transport planning, considering local authorities, airport managers and airlines.