Air Travel & FDI: Why Quality Routes Drive MNC Investment

Is your city losing investment without realising it, and is connectivity the hidden reason? Professor Siqi Zheng of MIT and SMART M3S joins us to unpack why air routes still shape global business decisions, even in a digital-first world. From the surprising cost of a single layover to the concept of “network centrality,” we explore why not all connections are created equal and what cities are getting wrong.

Tune In To Find Out

• The 20% Penalty: Why a single layover can reduce a city’s attractiveness to multinational firms, and what that reveals about how businesses price “travel friction.”

• Quality vs Quantity Trap: Why adding more routes may be a vanity metric, and the strategic mistake policymakers keep making when expanding connectivity.

• The Multiplier Effect: How one direct connection to a global hub can unlock access to dozens of markets, and why this matters more than total flight volume.

• Digital vs Physical Reality: Why decades of Zoom, email, and remote work have not reduced the need for face-to-face interaction in high-value industries.

• The Connectivity Divide: How well-connected cities pull further ahead, and the strategic playbook secondary cities can use to close the gap.

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