800 million more flyers predicted by 2014

An extra 800 million people will be travelling by air by 2014, many of them from China, necessitating more efficient traffic management, airports and security, the IATA trade body said yesterday.

In a statement, the International Air Transport Association forecast an estimated 3.3 billion air travellers in 2014, up 32 per cent from 2.5 billion in 2009.

"China will be the biggest contributor of new travellers," the global aviation trade body said in a press statement.

"Of the 800 million new travellers expected in 2014, 360 million (45 per cent) will travel on Asia-Pacific routes and of those, 214 million will be associated with China," it said.

"The United States will remain the largest single country market for domestic passengers and international passengers."

International aviation is also projected to handle 38 million tonnes of air cargo by 2014, up 46 per cent from 26 million tonnes in 2009.

IATA director-general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said the growing quantity of air travellers and cargo will require "even more efficient air traffic management, airport facilities and security programs."

He added that "industry and governments will be challenged to work together even more closely."

He said the industry would continue to feel the effects of the latest global economic crisis for some time, with sluggish growth expected in Europe and the United States, not only because they are mature markets.

"Lingering consumer debts, high unemployment and austerity measures will dampen growth rates," said Mr Bisignani.

Individually, the fastest growing markets for international passenger traffic during the 2009-2014 period will be China, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

The Middle East is forecast to be the fastest growing region, with international passenger demand expected to rise 9.4 per cent, followed by Africa at 7.7 per cent, the Asia-Pacific region at 7.6 per cent, Latin America (5.7 per cent), North America (4.9 per cent) and Europe (4.7 per cent).

IATA in December raised its overall forecast for airline earnings in 2010 to a record $15.1 billion but warned that profits would slide to $9.1 billion this year.

source: http://www.smh.com.au