Figures of global air traffic

If there is a field in the journey whose numbers are simply impressive, it is the figures of air traffic in the world!

A few figures on global air traffic

It is interesting to see the figures of air traffic. (Learn also how live air traffic in the world).

To illustrate them, know that since you opened this page:

flights took off or passengers and tons of CO2 emitted.

These two figures alone can give vertigo. They represent about 6 billion passengers a year in the world, i.e. 93,000 flights a day!

In 2013, a study of IATA (International Air Transport Association) gives us a lot of information about air traffic worldwide. This industry is booming with the explosion of low-cost flights worldwide and the democratization of travel in general.

Here are some other figures on the evolution of air traffic in the world:

• The growth rate of air traffic in 2012 was 5.5%
• The largest growth has been observed in emerging countries, including China (+9.5%) and Brazil (+8.6%)
• By 2016, there should be more than 816 million passengers in addition to 2012 worldwide.
• Air traffic grows 2.5 times faster than global GDP.
• There were 974 new connections between different airports in 2012.

Figure on the economy in air transport:

• 6400 billion dollars is the total value of goods transported by air freight, 1/3 of all goods transported worldwide.
• Air freight represents about 12% of the industry’s revenue.
• The cost of fuel represents 33% of airline operating costs.
• The airlines registered a net profit in 2012 of $7.6 billion, of which 3.9 for the Asia-Pacific companies alone.
• In 2012, the improvement in fuel management and the highest levels of aircraft filling allowed the industry to save about 12 million tonnes of CO2 or 1.7% improvement, which is equivalent to 40,000 Go/Return Paris-New York.

Accident and baggage figures:

• In 2012, there were 15 accidents with passenger deaths for approximately 30 million flights, i.e. one accident every 2 million flights.
• Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America are places where almost all air crashes are concentrated.
• The number of badly transported baggage in 2012 is 9 per 1,000. The goal is to reach 4.5 for 2016.

To illustrate the density of air traffic, here is a small video of global air traffic according to the time zone: