Air travel spending hits $621bn so far this year
Dubai, June 6, 2014
Air passengers have spent an estimated $621 billion so far this year, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (Iata) mid-year performance report.
It also estimated that the value of international trade shipped by air this year reached $6.8 trillion, said the Gulf Times report.
Economic development worldwide is getting a significant boost from air transport. This wider economic benefit is being generated by increasing connections between cities - enabling the flow of goods, people, capital, technology and ideas -- and reducing air transport costs, it said.
The number of city pair connections is estimated at more than 16,000, almost double the connectivity by air 20 years ago.
The air transport prices to users continues to fall, after adjusting for inflation. The real transport cost have more than halved compared to 20 years ago, said the report.
There is an increasing globalisation of supply chains and foreign direct investment (FDI). Governments have gained substantially from the good performance, owning to an estimated $121 billion in tax revenues this year.
The industry also continues to create high value added jobs, with these jobs being estimated to have been 58.1 million in 2012.
However, in many countries the value of aviation for governments, and the wider economy, is not well understood, the Iata report said.
The commercial activities of the industry remain highly constrained by bilateral and other regulations. Moreover, regulation is far from ‘smart’ with unnecessarily high costs in many situations, it added.
