Monday, February 14, 2011

IATA sees 3.3 bln air travellers by 2014, up 800m from 2009, as more Chinese travel

KUALA LUMPUR: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecasts 3.3 billion travellers in 2014, up 800 million passengers from the 2.5 billion in 2009, with China being the biggest contributor to the increase.

IATA said on Monday, Feb 14 of the 800 million new travellers expected in 2014, 360 million (45%) will travel on Asia Pacific routes and of those 214 million will be associated with China (181 million domestic and 33 million international).

The US will remain the largest single country market for domestic passengers (671 million) and international passengers (215 million),' it said.

According to the IATA forecast released in Singapore, international passenger numbers are expected to rise from 952 million in 2009 to 1.3 billion passengers in 2014. This 313 million traveler increase reflects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%.

'The fastest growing markets for international passenger traffic will be China (10.8%), the United Arab Emirates (10.2%), Vietnam (10.2%), Malaysia (10.1%) and Sri Lanka (9.5%),' it said.

IATA also said by 2014, the top five countries for international travel measured by number of passengers will be the United States (at 215 million, an increase of 45 million), the UK (at 198 million with an increase of 33 million), Germany (at 163 million with an increase of 29 million), Spain (123 million with an increase of 21 million), and France (111 million with an increase of 21 million).

As for domestic passengers, it said the numbers are expected to rise from 1.5 billion in 2009 to over two billion in 2014. This 488 million passenger increase reflects a CAGR of 5.7%.

'China will record the highest CAGR of 13.9% and contribute an additional 181 million passengers. Other countries with double digit growth include Vietnam (10.9%), South Africa (10.6%), India (10.5%), and the Philippines (10.2%),' it said.

IATA also said by 2014 the five largest markets for domestic passengers will be the US (671 million), China (379 million), Japan (102 million), Brazil (90 million) and India (69 million).

As for aviation cargo, it expected international aviation will handle 38 million tonnes of air cargo in 2014, up 12.5 million tonnes from the 26 million tonnes carried in 2009.

IATA's director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said the increase in air travellers and air cargo would create enormous opportunities but also present some challenges.

'Despite some regional differences, the forecast indicates that the world will continue to become more mobile. This creates enormous opportunities but also presents some challenges. In five years we need to be able to handle 800 million more passengers and 12.5 million more tonnes of international cargo.

'We will need even more efficient air traffic management, airport facilities and security programs. Industry and governments will be challenged to work together even more closely,' he said.

However, Bisignani said the shadow of the global economic recession was expected to remain over parts of the industry for some time to come.

'Sluggish growth rates in Europe and North America are not only the result of being mature markets. Lingering consumer debts, high unemployment and austerity measures will dampen growth rates,' he pointed out.

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