Worldwide passenger air traffic up slightly to 6%, boosted by low-cost carriers — ICAO
MONTREAL — Worldwide passenger air traffic grew again last year, albeit at a slightly slower pace, led by the dynamic growth of low-cost air carriers, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reported Monday.
A total of 3.7 billion passengers were transported by the world’s airlines last year, a 6% increase from 2015. That was just under the previous year’s 7.1% rise, the United Nations agency said.
Growth was most pronounced in the Middle East (11.2%), Asia (8%), Latin America (6.5%) and Africa (5.7%), while it was slower in Europe ( 4.3%) and North America (3.5%).
“Over half of the world’s tourists who travel across international borders each year were transported by air,” the Montrealbased agency noted in a statement.
Low- cost carriers accounted for 28% of all passenger air traffic. Passing a milestone, they transported more than one billion passengers for the first time.
In Europe, low- cost carriers transported nearly a third of all passengers, slightly more than the 31% in Asia or North America’s 25%.
“The increasing presence of low- cost carriers notably in emerging economies contributed to the overall growth of passenger traffic,” the ICAO said.
As for scheduled domestic flights, North America accounted for 43% of the total, up 4.3% from the previous year, while domestic traffic in Asia was up 10%, largely due to growth in India and China.
Increased traffic and significantly lower fuel costs helped boost airlines’ operating profits, which the ICAO put at $60 billion for last year, some $2 billion more than in 2015.
“More than a third of the profits are expected to come from the carriers of North America, whose domestic market represents 66% of their total operations,” the agency reported. —