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Global firms choose to invest in well-connected airport cities

Air connectivity is an important aspect of global business, but what makes a city ‘well connected’ is unclear. We found that, more important than the number of flights between cities, companies choose to locate their subsidiaries in locations that are well integrated within the global air traffic network.

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Fig. 1: Air connectivity favors face-to-face-reliant sectors.

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This is a summary of: Amico, A. et al. Air connectivity boosts urban attractiveness for global firms. Nat. Cities https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00361-4 (2026).

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Global firms choose to invest in well-connected airport cities. Nat Cities 3, 9–10 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-025-00362-3

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