Impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the Brazilian Air Transportation Multiplex Network

Resumo

The COVID-19 outbreak disrupted the Air Transportation system on a large scale and reduced
connections worldwide, but the impact is different in each country network. Air transportation is a complex
infrastructure system, adding the weight of interactions and a multilayer approach can make their description even
more detailed. In this field, studies on the evaluation of network structure and topology characteristics are
fundamental to predict and understand dynamical processes. This paper aims to assess the COVID-19 outbreak
impact in the Brazilian Air Transportation Multiplex Network, comparing the network topology over time and
evaluating the effect on airports under concession and regional aviation. The network is based on air passenger
traffic of 2019 and 2020 of the ANAC database, in which the airlines were divided into different layers. The
proprieties obtained were used for network characterization. We found that the average degree of airports reduced
11%, connections reduced 47% on average for each layer, increasing the mean path length to reach destinations.
Passaredo expanded its network during this period but the connection drop reduced the network density and
diameter. Results can facilitate decision-making for market strategies for airlines and incite discussion on
government incentives and subsidies to continue operation in remote cities maintaining airline operation.