Asia dominates global air travel representing an impressive 37.1% of all airline flights last year. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently released performance figures for 2018 which show that global air connectivity continues to become more accessible and more efficient than ever before. 

The most recent report confirms:

•  4.4 billion passengers flew in 2018
• Record efficiency was achieved with 81.9% of available seats being filled
• Fuel efficiency improved by more than 12% compared to 2010
• 22,000 city pairs are now connected by direct flights, up 1,300 over 2017 and double the 10,250 city pairs connected in 1998

”Airlines are connecting more people and places than ever before. The freedom to fly is more accessible than ever. And our world is a more prosperous place as a result. ” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Once again Asia was the busiest region:

• Asia-Pacific 37.1% market share (1.6 billion passengers, an increase of 9.2% compared to the region’s passengers in 2017)
• Europe 26.2% market share (1.1 billion passengers, up 6.6% over 2017)
• North America 22.6% market share (989.4 million passengers, up 4.8% over 2017)
• Latin America 6.9% market share (302.2 million passengers, up 5.7% over 2017)
• Middle East 5.1 % market share (224.2 million passengers, an increase of 4.0% over 2017)
• Africa 2.1% market share (92 million passengers, up 5.5% over 2017)

And had the busiest routes:

• Hong Kong – Taipei Taoyuan (5.4 million, down 0.4% from 2017)
• Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Hong Kong (3.4 million, increased 8.8% from 2017)
• Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta – Singapore Changi (3.2 million, decreased 3.3% from 2017)
• Seoul-Incheon – Osaka-Kansai (2.9 million, an increase of 16.5% from 2017)
• Kuala Lumpur International – Singapore Changi (2.8 million, up 2.1% from 2017)

The top five airlines (ranked by total scheduled passenger kilometers flown):

• American Airlines (330.6 billion)
• Delta Air Lines (330 billion)
• United Airlines (329.6 billion)
• Emirates (302.3 billion)
• Southwest Airlines (214.6 billion)

The largest Airline Alliances:

• Star Alliancemaintained its position as the largest airline alliance in 2018 with 21.9% of total scheduled traffic (in RPKs),
• SkyTeam (18.8%)
• oneworld (15.4%)

This report just underscores how important global air travel is and alongside growing wealth in Asia this trend is expected to continue. Asia dominates global air travel and this trend is expected to continue for many years to come.