(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
by Nancy Trejos, USA TODAY
Airlines expect to carry about 3.6 billion
passengers in 2016, exceeding 2011's passenger load by more than 800
million, according to new data.
The International Air Transport
Association today released a report projecting 5.3% average annual
growth in passenger numbers between 2012 and 2016.
Almost 500 million of those new passengers will travel on domestic routes while 331 million will travel internationally.
The
emerging economies of Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East
will see the strongest passenger growth, the group predicts. Many of
those passengers - about 193 million - will be traveling routes within
or connected to China. The Asia-Pacific routes will account for about
380 million passengers over the forecast period.
However, through
2016, the USA will continue to be the largest single market for domestic
passengers with a total of 710.2 million. In that same year, there will
be 223 million passengers on international routes connecting to the
USA, making it the largest single market for international travel as
well, the association said.
"Despite the current economic
uncertainty, expected demand for connectivity remains strong. That's
good news for the global economy," IATA Director General and CEO Tony
Tyler said in a press release.
By 2016, the top five countries for
international travel based on the number of passengers will be: the
USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and France.
By 2016, the five largest markets for domestic passengers will be the USA, China, Brazil, India and Japan.
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