"Airline passengers to reach 2.75 billion in 2011"

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Trade group: Airline passengers to reach 2.75 billion in 2011
The Associated Press


DAMASCUS, Syria - The air transport industry will handle 2.75 billion
passengers in 2011, around 620 million more than in 2006, the International
Air Transport Association said in forecasts announced Wednesday.

According to passenger and freight traffic projections, international
passenger demand is expected to increase from 760 million passengers in 2006
to 980 million in 2011, growing at an average annual rate of 5.1 percent.
This will be lower than the average growth rate of 7.4 percent recorded
between 2002-2006, due to slightly slower global economic growth.

Domestic passenger demand is expected to grow from 1.37 billion passengers
in 2006 to 1.77 billion in 2011, fueled by expansion in the Indian and
Chinese domestic markets, according to a report by the IATA, the governing
body that regulates international air transport.

"The numbers clearly show that the world wants to fly. And it also needs to
fly. ... The livelihoods of 32 million people are tied to aviation,
accounting for US$3.5 trillion in economic activity," said Giovanni
Bisignani, the director general and chief executive of the Geneva-based
IATA. He spoke at the opening session of the Arab Air Carriers Organization
meeting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Wednesday.

In his speech, Bisignani warned that a looming infrastructure crisis could
threaten the benefits.

"Failure to prepare adequately to meet demand will have an environmental
cost with inefficient use of airspace and delays. There is no panacea, but
the starting point for a sustainable solution is a common vision for
efficiency that is acted on by governments and industry," he said.

Bisignani said parts of the world were effectively managing infrastructure
development to anticipate and meet demand, particularly the Middle East and
China.

"But the enormous anticipated expansion in India that has fueled record
aircraft orders could be cut short by insufficient airport and air traffic
management capacity," he said.

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