IATA World Air transport statistics: India sees highest domestic market growth

60th Edition of IATA World Air Transport Statistics Released

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced industry performance statistics for 2015 showing that, among the world’s largest domestic markets, India had the fastest domestic passenger growth in 2015. With annual growth of 18.8% (in a market of 80 million domestic passengers), India’s performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9% growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers), China (9.7% growth, in a market of 394 million domestic passengers) and the United States (5.4% growth, in a market of 708 million domestic passengers).

This information was included in the recently released 60th Edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), the yearbook of the airline industry’s performance.

“Last year airlines safely carried 3.6 billion passengers—the equivalent of 48% of the Earth’s population—and transported 52.2 million tonnes of cargo worth around $6 trillion. In doing so, we supported some $2.7 trillion in economic activity and 63 million jobs,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Key industry statistics

View full infographic (pdf)

Passenger

• System-wide, airlines carried 3.6 billion passengers on scheduled services, an increase of 7.2 % over 2014, representing an additional 240 million air trips
• Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region once again carried the largest number of passengers. The regional ranking (based on total passengers carried on scheduled services by airlines registered in that region) is:

1. Asia-Pacific 34% market share (1.2 billion passengers, an increase of 10% compared to the region’s passengers in 2014)
2. Europe 26.2% market share (935.5 million passengers, up 6.7% over 2014)
3. North America 24.8% market share (883.2 million, up 5.2% over 2014)
4. Latin America 7.5% market share (267.6 million, up 4.7%)
5. Middle East 5.3% market share (188.2 million, an increase of 8.1%)
6. Africa 2.2% market share (79.5 million, up 1.8% over 2014).

• The top five airlines ranked by total scheduled passengers carried (domestic and international) were:

1. American Airlines (146,5 million)
2. Southwest Airlines (144.6 million
3. Delta Air Lines (138.8 million)
4. China Southern Airlines (109.3 million)
5. Ryanair (101.4 million)

• The top five international/regional passenger airport-pairs were all within the Asia-Pacific region:

1. Hong Kong-Taipei (5.1 million, up 2.1% from 2014)
2. Jakarta-Singapore (3.4 million, down 2.6%)
3. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Hong Kong (3 million, increase of 29.2%)
4. Kuala Lumpur–Singapore (2.7 million, up 13%)
5. Hong Kong-Singapore (2.7 million, down 3.2%)

• The top five domestic passenger airport-pairs were also all in the Asia-Pacific region:

1. Jeju-Seoul Gimpo (11.1 million, up 7.1% over 2014)
2. Sapporo-Tokyo Haneda (7.8 million, up 1.3%)
3. Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda (7.6 million, a decrease of 7.4% from 2014)
4. Melbourne Tullamarine-Sydney (7.2 million, down 2.2%)
5. Beijing Capital-Shanghai Hongqiao (6.1 million,  up 6.1% from 2014)

Cargo

• Globally, cargo markets showed a 2.3% expansion in freight and mail tonne kilometers (FTKs). This outstripped a capacity increase of 5.8% decreasing freight load factor by 1.6% pp
• The top five airlines ranked by total freight tonnes carried on scheduled services were:

1. FedEx Express (7.1 million)
2. United Parcel Service (4.5 million)
3. Emirates Airline (2.5 million)
4. Cathay Pacific Airways (1.6 million)
5. Korean Air (1.5 million)

Airline Alliances

• Star Alliance maintained its position as the largest airline alliance in 2015 with 23 % of total scheduled traffic (in RPK), followed by SkyTeam (20.4%) and oneworld (17.8%)