The Geography of Transport Systems

The spatial organization of transportation and mobility

5.5 – Air Transport

Authors: dr. john bowen and dr. jean-paul rodrigue.

Air transportation is the mobility of passengers and freight by any conveyance that can sustain controlled flight.

1. The Rise of Air Transportation

Air transportation was slow to take off after the  Wright Brothers breakthrough at Kitty Hawk in 1903. More than a decade passed before the first faltering efforts to launch scheduled passenger services. On January 1, 1914, the world’s inaugural scheduled flight with a paying passenger hopped across the bay separating Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida.

In its earliest years, the airline industry had a symbiotic relationship with military aviation. World War I, which began just months after that first flight from Tampa, provided a powerful spur to the development of commercial aviation as air power began to be used strategically, and better aircraft were quickly introduced. The war left a legacy of thousands of unemployed pilots and surplus aircraft, along with an appreciation for the future significance of aviation.

After the war, civilian airliners improved rapidly. The non-stop crossing of the North Atlantic in 1927 was a key event as the range and navigational capabilities of the emerging air transport system were tested. For instance, the 8-12 passenger Dutch-built Fokker Trimotor, the most popular airliner in the early interwar years, had a top speed of 170 kilometers per hour and a range of 1,100 kilometers, which is less than the distance between Amsterdam and Rome. By the eve of World War II, airlines worldwide were adopting the USA-built Douglas DC-3 with a capacity of 28 passengers, a speed of 310 kilometers per hour, and a range of more than 2,400 kilometers nonstop, able to  fly across the US with just three stops. The DC-3 made its maiden commercial flight in 1936 between New York and Chicago, a vital business route highlighting the commercial significance of fast-changing technology.

Governments supported the emergence of the airline industry through ownership or subsidies. In Europe, governments established new passenger airlines, while on the other side of the Atlantic, the American government heavily subsidized airmail .  Airmail was one of the earliest commercially relevant applications of air transportation because it helped accelerate monetary transactions and tie together far-flung enterprises, facilitating the emergence of continental and intercontinental enterprises. US airmail subsidies also fostered the emergence of the first major US passenger airlines.

By the eve of World War II, air travel was quite literally taking off. In the US, for instance, the number of passengers grew fivefold from 462,000 to 1,900,000 between 1934 and 1939. Still, aviation remained far beyond the means of most travelers, especially for long-haul routes. For instance, in 1936, Pan American World Airways launched services across the Pacific with a roundtrip fare of $1,438 (about $26,900 in 2020 dollars) between San Francisco and Manila. As in this example, many of the long-haul air services were to colonies and dependencies. Only the elite or government officials could afford such early intercontinental routes .

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Yet war again catalyzed the growth of air transportation since airpower became an ever more crucial element of military operations. New airports, vast numbers of trained pilots, great strides in jet aviation, and other aviation-related innovations, including radar, were among the legacies of World War II. Boosted by such developments and the broader economic boom that followed the war, air transportation finally became the dominant mode of long-haul passenger travel in developed countries. By the 1950s, air travel had become more widely advertised, and standardized fare structures were emerging. In 1956, more people traveled on intercity routes by air than by Pullman car (sleeper) and coach class trains combined in the US. For the first time in 1958, airlines carried more passengers than ocean liners across the Atlantic.

The speed advantage for aviation grew with the advent of jet travel in the mid-1950s. In October 1958, the  Boeing 707 took its maiden commercial flight with a Pan American World Airways route linking New York and Paris, with a refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland. The B707 was not the first jetliner, but it was the first successful one. The B707 and other early jets, including the Douglas DC-8, doubled the speed of air transportation and radically increased airline productivity, enabling fares to fall . Just a few years after the B707’s debut, airlines had extended jet service to most major world markets. The technical benefits of jet planes, such as better ranges, changed the structure of air networks as airlines bypassed airports that conventionally had acted as gateways because of refueling stops. This was the case for Gander in Canada and Recife in Brazil for transatlantic flights.

Jet transportation facilitated the extension of the linkages between people and places . For example, through the mid-1950s, all major league baseball teams in the US were located in the Manufacturing Belt, situated no more than an overnight rail journey apart from one another to permit closely packed schedules. The speed and ultimately lower cost of air transportation freed teams to move to the untapped markets of the Sunbelt. By the mid-1960s, half a dozen teams were strung out across the South and West, complementing and competing against those that remained in the Frostbelt.

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In the years since the beginning of the Jet Age, commercial aircraft have advanced markedly in capacity and range. Just 12 years after the debut of the 134-seat (in a typical two-class configuration) B707, the 366-seat (in a typical three-class configuration) B747 made its maiden flight. The economies of scale fostered by the 747 and other wide-body jets helped to push real airfares downward , thereby democratizing aviation beyond the so-called “Jet Set”. Like the B707, the B747 premiered on a transatlantic route from New York City. However, the B747, particularly the longer-range B747-400 version introduced in the late 1980s, has been nicknamed the “Pacific Airliner” because of its singular significance in drawing Asia closer to the rest of the world and because Asia-Pacific airlines have been  major B747 customers .

By the 2010s, the majority of the B747s were being retired and replaced by longer-range and more fuel-efficient twin-engine aircraft such as the B777, the A330, the B787, and the A350. On transpacific routes, the 787, for instance, has a fuel economy of about 39 passenger-kilometers per liter of jet fuel versus about 23 passenger-kilometers per liter for the Boeing 747-400ER. The triumph of widebody twinjets is most evident in the transatlantic and transpacific markets, including the introduction of the A380 in 2007 to develop a niche of a high-capacity aircraft servicing long hauls between major airports.

Air transportation is now overwhelmingly dominant in transcontinental and intercontinental travel and has become more competitive for shorter trips in many regional markets. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have been instrumental in extending aviation’s reach to short-haul markets. The pioneering LCC, Southwest Airlines, sought to make flying cheaper than driving on the first markets it served in the early 1970s: the Texas “Golden Triangle” linking Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Since then, LCCs have proliferated across developed markets and, more recently, in emerging markets. In developing countries, the ascent of LCCs has been partly fueled by the poor quality of land transportation, making air travel an attractive option for national inter-city routes.

Interestingly, since their introduction in the late 1950s, commercial jets have  not improved much in terms of speed apart from a small fleet of supersonic but commercially unsuccessful Concorde jets (which flew on a handful of transatlantic routes between 1976 and 2003). Since the end of Concorde services, the fastest airliners in regular use have had cruising speeds about as fast as the B707s of the early 1960s. However, introducing long-haul aircraft has produced new rounds of time-space convergence. For instance, in 2018, twenty US cities had nonstop services to at least one destination in Asia, up from 13 US cities in 1998. Boston had nonstop links to Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in 2018, whereas two decades earlier, all those markets would have required a time-consuming connection at a larger hub. Meanwhile, there have been repeated attempts to launch new supersonic airliners. In 2021, United Airlines placed orders for 15 aircraft from Boom Supersonic. The new jets, each seating 65 to 80 passengers and cruising at Mach 1.7, will begin flying in 2029 if all goes according to plan.

Perhaps the most significant improvement in aviation is the reduced risks of accidents . If civil aviation had had the same accident rate per million departures as in the early 1960s, there would have been the equivalent of about three fatal accidents somewhere in the world per day in 2018. Instead, there were nine fatal accidents worldwide for the whole year .

The world’s busiest air routes are mainly short-range sections between cities less than 1,000 km apart, with many of these city pairs found in emerging markets. More generally, short-haul flights predominate despite the expansion of long-haul flights and the increased globalization of the economy. Importantly for the world as a whole, about 59% of airline seats were on domestic flights in 2018, and for larger countries, the share was even higher, such as 88% in China.

Air transportation’s share of world trade in goods is less than 1% measured by weight but more than 35% by value . Typically, air transportation is most important for time-sensitive, valuable, or perishable freight carried over long distances. Air cargo has been central in “just-in-time” production and distribution strategies with low inventory levels, such as for Apple iPhones. Air cargo is also vital in emergencies when the fast delivery of supplies prevails over cost issues. In the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, air cargo carriers were crucial in rushing ventilators and other equipment worldwide. Later in the pandemic, the same carriers helped speed the distribution of vaccines and supported the increasing demand for goods due to online purchases.

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2. Civil Aviation and Activity Spaces

Air transportation has transformed society at scales ranging from the local to the global. Aviation has made economic and social activities in many parts of the world faster, more interconnected, varied, and more affluent . Still, those gains have come with externalities such as congestion and environmental challenges.

a. The acceleration of the material world

As the fastest mode, air transportation has been associated with the speeding up of daily life . This effect is most apparent in the astonishing delivery times for goods ordered online from sites such as Amazon.com. In 2019, Amazon offered two-day deliveries to all of the United States for millions of goods and next-day delivery for a narrower range of goods. The speed of the company’s deliveries depended largely on the multiplicity of distribution centers Amazon operated across the country, positioning many goods close to consumers. Still, air cargo has also been vital in rushing goods from global suppliers to distribution centers and consumers. In 2016, Amazon began flying leased aircraft as Amazon Air in the United States, with nationwide flights. The surge in e-commerce during the pandemic propelled the expansion of Amazon Air to a fleet size of 96 aircraft by 2022, a small number of which now operate on routes within Europe.

Passengers move at faster speeds as well. The supersonic Concorde once advertised its service with the slogan “Arrive before you leave”, highlighting the fact that for westbound flights such as London – New York, the local time on arrival (in New York) would be earlier than at departure (in London). As noted above, the Concorde was grounded in 2003. Still, the multiplication of nonstop services means that even at conventional jet speeds (which are about 80 percent the speed of sound), the world is smaller for passengers; the number of unique city pairs served by commercial airlines grew to 22,000 in 2019, about twice the number of twenty years earlier.

The speed of human transportation has changed how people interact in ways that are both positive and negative. For instance, until the advent of low-cost air transportation, the principal means of traveling between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi was a 33- to 36-hour rail journey on the Reunification Express or a similarly tedious bus journey. Now, for those who can afford to fly (low-cost carriers have broadened that population), the cities are just 2 hours apart. The route has become among the most densely trafficked in the world, with 60 flights per day each way in 2018. The result has been an improvement in the lives of traders, bureaucrats, students, tourists, and others traveling between Vietnam’s two largest cities, and the same has occurred in countless other city pairs.

On the other hand, the acceleration of passenger flows around the world has also sped up the diffusion of infectious diseases . In late 2002, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), for instance, began spreading slowly within southern China. Still, within days of reaching Hong Kong in February 2003, the disease was transmitted to Canada, Vietnam, the United States, and the Philippines. Direct nonstop services were an important factor behind a diffusion pattern that may, at first glance, appear random. Ultimately, cases were reported in more than two dozen countries over a matter of weeks, with airports becoming the key frontiers in trying to limit the spread of SARS. Before aviation became widespread, the sheer size of the world afforded a degree of protection from the development of pandemics. But the world is, at least measured in terms of time, much smaller than in the past.

That lesson was repeated on a much larger scale during the COVID-19 pandemic . In early 2020, the coronavirus epidemic first forced the shutdown of large segments of the Chinese air transport system, including international air services to Chinese cities. As the disease spread, travel bans cascaded across the planet, precipitating the worst crisis in the history of the airline industry . In the United States, passengers cleared at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints reached a nadir of 87,500 on April 13, 2020 , just 4 percent of the level on the same date a year earlier. By June 2021, with vaccination increasingly widespread in the United States, the number of passengers processed daily by the TSA reached 70% of pre-pandemic levels, with domestic flights the main driver. By June 2022, this traffic level was at 95%, with the demand considered to have recovered to pre-pandemic levels after a two-year hiatus. Still, international travel lagged mainly due to entry restrictions involving vaccine certificates, testing before arrival, and quarantine requirements. By mid-2022, these restrictions were eased for major destinations in North America and Europe, allowing for the resumption of segments of long-distance international air travel.

b. An interconnected world

At any moment in 2018, an estimated 1.4 million people were airborne on commercial airline flights worldwide. Most were on short-haul flights linking nearby cities within the same country, as evidenced by the most densely trafficked sector, the 454-kilometer hop from Seoul to the resort island of Jeju, off South Korea’s southern coast. At the regional scale, frequent flights have amplified the political and economic integration of regions such as the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In Europe, the phrase “easyJet Generation” refers to young people who have grown up in a region where cheap aviation and porous borders have permitted unprecedented mobility.

At the global scale, increasingly long-haul nonstop services (up to 18 hours in duration ) are both a response and a driver for globalization . Most of the nodes for such flights are world cities , the command-and-control centers of the global economy rank among the best-connected cities in the global airline networks. Yet the links between globalization and the airline industry extend far beyond the main hubs. Manufacturers, especially those producing high-value electronics, rely heavily on air transport to tie together spatially disaggregated operations. For example, by 2019, Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province in China and the largest production base for Apple iPhones, was linked by numerous freighter aircraft flights daily to global markets, including a nonstop 747-freighter flight by Cargolux to Luxembourg.

In addition to the trade networks established by multinational corporations, there are also extensive social networks created by migrants involving recurring air travel. For instance, in 1998, Ethiopian Airlines launched services to Washington, DC, the carrier’s first destination in the United States and not coincidentally home to the largest community of Ethiopians outside Africa. The flow of people between Ethiopia and Washington, DC, is one strand in the larger tapestry of global connections expedited by air transportation.

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c. A kaleidoscope of experience

Cheap air transport has enlarged the geographic scope of everyday life and, in so doing, has enriched the lives of many with unprecedented variety. Take first the diversity of goods. By one common measure, the United States imported more than four times the variety of goods in 2018 as in 1972. Much of the increase was attributable to the sharp reduction in transportation costs through containerized maritime shipping, but lower-cost air cargo has also played a role. Many perishables, for instance, such as Valentine’s Day roses bound from Kenya to Europe or Colombia to the United States and fresh tuna shipped from around the world to the fish markets in Japan, move exclusively by air. These markets largely did not exist a few decades ago.

Efficient and affordable air cargo has contributed to changes in diet by making available products in seasons during which they would not be available, to changes in retailing, and correspondingly to changes in manufacturing. Examples abound, such as fresh produce grown in the southern hemisphere available in the northern hemisphere during winter (a phenomenon sometimes referred to as permanent global summertime ), at least for affluent consumers.

Likewise, air transport has catalyzed the emergence of an ever-greater variety of tourist destinations . The markets with the fastest growth rely overwhelmingly on arrivals by air from major source tourist markets such as the United States, Europe, and China. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly curtailed air tourism, particularly at the international level, but by 2022, activities were returning to normalcy, and pent-up demand accelerated the recovery of air tourism.

d. The ascent of affluence

Air traffic is correlated with per capita income, but the relationship is interdependent. More affluent populations can more easily afford what is usually the most expensive mode, but aviation has also been catalytic to economic growth.

In 2019, airlines flew approximately 4.5 billion passengers. The total volume of air passengers equaled nearly 60 percent of the global population. Of course, a much smaller share are actually air travelers, as individuals who use air transportation usually do so several times per year. Therefore, the propensity to fly is highly uneven, as observed in the passenger and freight markets. Flights originating in North America and Europe accounted for 47 percent of airline seat capacity in 2018. However, that share has been declining with faster growth in other regions of the world. For instance, flights from China accounted for 14 percent of seat capacity in 2018, up from 3 percent in 1998.

Both passenger and cargo traffic  have grown rapidly as higher incomes translate into higher values for time and a stronger preference for what is the fastest mode. In fact, air passenger and air cargo traffic have outpaced the growth of the broader global economy .

At the same time, lower transportation costs, in terms of time and money, have encouraged faster income growth. The economic impact of air transportation is most strongly pronounced near air hubs, but the catalytic effect of air accessibility extends across the economy. Whole sectors are strongly dependent on aviation. Logistics, advanced business services such as consulting and advertising, and tourism are among the industries for which air accessibility is vital. It is no coincidence, for instance, that all six major Disney theme parks are located near one of the world’s busiest airports. In 2017, passenger volumes at Orlando International Airport were more than 500 times larger than they had been the year before Disneyworld opened (1971), and what was once a medium-sized Florida city had nonstop links to cities across the United States and Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. Disney’s other parks include Disneyland near Los Angeles International Airport, Disneyland Paris near Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Tokyo Disneyland near Tokyo-Haneda, Hong Kong Disneyland, which shares Lantau island with the most  expensive airport in history , and Shanghai Disney Resort located just a few kilometers south of the city’s main airport.

e. The high costs of aviation

Yet, the huge increase in traffic in Orlando and the more modest increase globally have not been cost-free. In particular, aviation externalities have risen with traffic volumes. The air transport sector accounts for about 3.5 percent of anthropogenic climate change, but its share is expected to climb towards the mid-century. Aviation is heavily dependent on fossil fuels and is likely to remain so after other modes have transitioned to more environmentally friendly fuel sources. Some airlines have experimented with biofuels, but their impact remains marginal so far. Between 2011 and 2019, about 175,000 flights were partly powered by biofuels, but in 2019, more than 100,000 flights per day were powered solely by conventional fuels. A landmark was reached in 2021 when a test flight between Chicago and Washington, DC, ran exclusively on biofuels. In 2023, this was the case for the first transatlantic flight.

Battery-electric aircraft are another avenue to ease the sector’s global climate change impacts. Air taxis using this technology are expected to launch as soon as 2024, but the aircraft being developed are small in their capacity (about five passengers) and range (about 250 kilometers). Airships , which might be suitable for freight transportation in remote areas, still comprise another area of innovation.

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Aviation also has significant impacts at the local level, including emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter. As with greenhouse gasses, however, growth in emissions (at least when measured per passenger-kilometer) has been stemmed by rapid advances in aviation technology, especially improvements in engine efficiency. The average fuel burn per passenger-kilometer by air transportation fell by 45 percent between 1968 and 2014, and the introduction of a new generation of jet engines portends further gains.

The most apparent externality at the local scale is aircraft noise , and technology has brought impressive gains. For instance, engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney claims up to a 75 percent reduction in the noise footprint (i.e. the area near a runway affected by high noise levels) for its newest large jet engine compared to similar-sized jets operated with an earlier generation of engines. Still, the huge increase in traffic volumes (at least before the COVID-19 pandemic) partly offsets this and other technical improvements in aviation.

3. The Geography of Airline Networks

Theoretically, air transport enjoys greater freedom of route choice than most other modes. Airline routes span oceans, the highest mountain chains, the most forbidding deserts, and other physical barriers to surface transport. Yet, while it is true that the mode is less restricted than land transport to specific rights of way, it is nevertheless more constrained than might be supposed.

a. Structuring factors

Weather events such as snowstorms and thunderstorms can temporarily create disruptions that cascade through hub-and-spoke networks . Volcanic eruptions may also impede air travel by releasing ash into the atmosphere, which can damage and even shut down turbofan engines. Fear of such calamities forced the closing down of the airspace in much of Europe as well as the North Atlantic for nearly a week following an April 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland. Meanwhile, on a more regular basis, aircraft seek to exploit (or avoid) upper atmospheric winds, particularly the jet stream , to enhance speed and reduce fuel consumption.

Yet the limitations that structure air transportation are mainly human creations , especially internationally. The Chicago Convention of 1944 established the basic geopolitical guidelines of international air operations, which became known as the freedoms of the air . First (right to overfly) and second (right for a technical stop), freedom rights are almost automatically exchanged among countries. The United States, which emerged from World War II with by far the strongest airline industry in the world, had wanted third and fourth freedom rights (the right to drop off passengers and cargo and the right to pick up passengers and cargo, respectively, in another country) to be freely exchanged as well. Instead, these and other rights have been the subject of hundreds of carefully negotiated bilateral air services agreements (ASAs). In an ASA, each side can specify which airlines can serve which cities with what size equipment and at what frequencies. ASAs often include provisions regulating fares and revenue sharing among the airlines serving a particular international route.

Other constraints on the geography of air services stem from safety and national security concerns . To limit opportunities for midair collisions, air traffic is channeled along specific corridors so that only a relatively small portion of the sky is in use. Jet Route 80, for example, links Coaldale, Nevada, and Bellaire, Ohio, and accommodates many transcontinental city pairs as well as some shorter haul sectors such as Indianapolis-Denver. Meanwhile, airlines within China face widespread capacity constraints because the People’s Liberation Army controls four-fifths of the country’s airspace and prioritizes military flights over passenger use.

Strategic and political factors also influence route choice over larger scales. The Cold War imposed numerous airspace constraints, preventing the use of polar air routes . The opening of the Siberian airspace to Western airlines in the 1990s permitted more direct routes between cities like London and Tokyo or New York and Hong Kong. However, in 2022, the Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in the closing of the Russian airspace for most Western airlines, forcing international flights to detour along North America/Asia and Europe/Asia routes. For instance, Lufthansa’s flight between Frankfurt and Beijing detoured to the south of Russia (through Romania, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia), adding hundreds of kilometers and more than an hour of flying time. In turn, Russian airlines were excluded from the airspace of most Western countries. Meanwhile, there has been some progress towards opening up airspace elsewhere in the world. In 2020, some Arab governments opened their airspace to Israeli airlines as part of a broader peace initiative.

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b. Liberalization of air travel

These instances of government intervention in airline networks run contrary to the broader trajectory of airline industry liberalization (a term that refers to deregulation and privatization). Since the 1970s, dozens of airlines around the world have been at least partially privatized, meaning that they are now owned by private investors instead of governments. Many airline markets have been deregulated, meaning there are fewer regulations on fares, routes, and other aspects of operations.

In the United States, the Air Deregulation Act of 1978 opened the industry to competition. The results were significant. Once hallowed names, like TWA, Pan Am, and Braniff, sank into bankruptcy, and many new players emerged . Most lasted only briefly, but some have had a more profound, enduring effect on the industry and air transportation. For instance, Southwest Airlines could only serve intra-Texas markets until deregulation freed the low-cost carrier to spread nationwide and beyond.

In Europe, deregulation advanced in a series of stages, culminating in 1997 with the opening of the European market to all European carriers. For instance, the Irish LCC Ryanair operates dozens of bases outside Ireland, its headquarters country, and most of its routes never touch Ireland.

Liberalization has also spread to emerging markets, with a transformative effect in places as different as Indonesia, India, and Brazil. In all these markets, state-owned flag carriers have lost market share to nimbler, privately owned airlines, often including LCCs. The enormous Chinese market has also been partially deregulated, and its leading airlines, while predominantly state-owned, have varying degrees of private ownership.

Meanwhile, in international markets, an important trend in the past few decades has been the proliferation of Open Skies agreements . These agreements remove most restrictions on the number of carriers and routes they may fly between signatory countries. By 2021, the United States alone had Open Skies agreements with more than 128 countries. Perhaps the most important Open Skies agreement links the European Union and the United States. Signed in 2007, the agreement permits any European carrier to fly to any city in the United States and vice versa. It makes it easier for investors from one side of the Atlantic to invest in airlines on the other side and facilitates collaboration among carriers integrated into airline alliances.

Liberalization has fueled the growth of aviation and made the world’s airline networks far more dynamic. Airlines have greater freedom to fly where and when they see commercial potential. For instance, under regulation by the US Civil Aeronautics Board, United Airlines was allowed to add only one city to its network between 1961 and 1978. By contrast, between 1978 and 2018, the airline’s network grew from 93 cities (almost all in the US) to 342 cities worldwide.

Liberalization has not been a one-way street, however. There have been numerous instances of governments reasserting their power in the industry, and the COVID-19 pandemic was an event likely to incite further interventions.

c. Aircraft technology and airline networks

In time, air transportation networks evolved to become increasingly complex, a trend that goes on par with the improvements in the technical capabilities of aircraft, but also their specialization to service-specific markets. Three major categories of passenger jet planes may be recognized, each servicing a specific air transport market :

  • Regional market (Short range/haul aircraft) . This market usually involves short flights lasting anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours, which means that they can fly between 6 and 10 legs a day. Embraer’s older ERJs and new E-Jets are examples of planes with relatively small capacities (fewer than 150 passengers) that travel short distances. Regional jets (RJs) like these serve smaller markets and feed hub airports on routes such as Appleton, Wisconsin, to Chicago or Maputo, Mozambique, to Johannesburg. RJs also provide high-frequency point-to-point services between large city pairs.
  • Regional and international markets (Medium range/haul aircraft) . This market involves flights between 1 and 4 hours in duration, but longer flights of 5 to 6 hours are also possible, which means 2 to 5 legs per day. The Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 are very flexible aircraft that can be efficiently deployed on short hops but also on transcontinental routes. From New York, all of North America can be serviced by the latest versions of the A320 and B737. This range can also be applied to the European continent, South America, East Asia, and Africa for corresponding market areas. These narrow-body jets are the workhorses of LCCs, including Southwest Airlines, the largest 737 operator.
  • International and intercontinental markets (Long-range/haul aircraft) . This market involves flights of 7 or more hours, with 12 hours considered ultra-long-range, which means two legs or fewer per day. The North Atlantic is considered in the lower range of this category since the US East Coast and Western Europe can be connected in 6 to 8 hours. This implies a full rotation of 2 legs per day, with European-bound flights leaving the US East Coast during the night, arriving in Europe in the morning, and heading back in the afternoon to arrive on the East Coast in the evening. There is a variety of aircraft combining high payloads and long-distance ranges. Early variants, such as the B707, have evolved into planes offering high capacity, such as the B747 series, which have evolved into extra long-range abilities. Today, the emphasis in this category is on twin-engine wide-body aircraft with high fuel efficiency and range. As of 2022, the longest-range aircraft were the Boeing B787 series (14,800 km range) and the Airbus A350 series (15,600 km range for the normal version, 18,000 kilometers for the ultra-long-range version). Aircraft such as these can link almost any pair of large cities worldwide if there is enough traffic to make the service profitable.

Across all these categories, a notable trend has been ever-longer ranges. One noticeable effect of improved aircraft technology is the bypassing effect, particularly over long hauls with the possibility of direct connections without intermediary stops . The first 737s in the 1960s had a range of just over 3,000 kilometers. Some of the most recent versions can fly more than 7,000 kilometers nonstop. Longer-range aircraft of all sizes facilitate the fragmentation of intercontinental and transcontinental markets and point-to-point services that depend less on hubs. For instance, in 2019, Norwegian Airlines operated a 737 on a 5,300-kilometer route between Hamilton, Ontario, and Dublin, Ireland. This city pair otherwise would have required a transfer to a hub such as Toronto.

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d. Differences by traffic type and seasonality

An important aspect of airline networks is the emergence of separate air cargo services operating on separate networks. Most air cargo is carried in the bellyhold of passenger airplanes and provides supplementary income for airline companies. However, passenger aircraft are operated on routes that make sense for passengers but may not attract much cargo or may not operate at times that make sense for cargo shippers. In response to these factors, a growing number of freighter aircraft operations have spread across the world, using airplanes that carry cargo on the main decks and in their bellyholds and operate routes attuned to the needs of shippers. More than half of all air cargo is carried in freighters, including many operated by combination carriers (e.g., Qatar Airways) that carry passengers and cargo and operate mixed fleets of passenger and freighter aircraft.

More specifically, the air freight market is serviced by five types of operations:

  • Passenger airlines (e.g., United Airlines) offer the freight capacity in the bellyhold of their all-passenger aircraft fleet. For these operators, freight services are rather secondary and represent a source of additional income, such as carrying mail . It remains an important market as about 50% of all the air cargo is carried in the bellyhold of regular passenger aircraft. However, low-cost airlines usually do not offer air cargo services since their priority is a fast rotation of their planes and servicing lower-cost airports that do not generate cargo volumes.
  • Combination airlines (e.g., Korean Air) have fleets with freighters and passenger aircraft able to carry freight in their bellyhold. Most of the freighter operations involve long-haul services.
  • Dedicated cargo operators (e.g., Cargolux) maintain a fleet of cargo-only aircraft and offer regularly scheduled services between the airports they service. They also offer charter operations to cater to specific needs.
  • Air freight integrators (e.g., FedEx Express) operate air and ground freight services, providing nearly seamless (at least from the customer’s perspective) door-to-door deliveries.
  • Specialized operators (e.g., Volga-Dnepr Airlines) fulfill niche services that cater to specific cargo requirements (e.g., heavy loads) that do not fit the capabilities of standard cargo aircraft.

Generally, the most important air cargo hubs, such as Memphis and Hong Kong, are also the hubs of key carriers. One important exception is Anchorage International Airport. Because freighters have shorter ranges than passenger aircraft and because freight is less sensitive to intermediate refueling stops than passengers, many freighters on transpacific routes refuel in Alaska to maximize their payload and clear US customs.

It is not uncommon for older aircraft, particularly wide-body aircraft, to be converted for cargo operations when they complete their commercial life on the passenger market. For instance, in mid-2022, the fleet of Amazon Air comprised converted Boeing 767 and Boeing 737 freighters. Former passenger jets like these have lower acquisition costs, a vast pool of experienced pilots, and the ready availability of parts for maintenance. On the other hand, new-build jets, such as the popular Boeing 777 freighter used by FedEx on many intercontinental routes, have greater reliability, fuel efficiency, and range.

A final feature of airline networks is their seasonality . Air cargo flows tend to peak near the Christmas season. However, some specific products (e.g., Valentine’s Day flowers in February or the shipment of thousands of tons of Beaujolais Nouveau wine from France to Asia each November) have different temporal patterns. For passenger air transport, July and August are the most traveled months overall, corresponding to the peak tourist season in Europe and North America. Elsewhere in the world, other seasonal patterns may be more important. For instance, in China, the busiest air travel days of the year tend to be close to the Spring Festival (or Lunar New Year) in January or February. The Muslim hajj generates millions of trips to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, over a five-day period each year, with the vast majority of pilgrims flying into either King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah or Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina.

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4. Airlines, Hubs, and Alliances

There are several thousand airlines in the world, most of them very small. Only about 1,400 are members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and even among IATA members, a relative handful of airlines account for most of the traffic. In 2018, the top 25 airlines accounted for just over 50 percent of available seat-kilometers (ASKs), a measure of capacity.

Most airlines have strongly centralized networks, and the hubs of the largest airlines are among the busiest airports in the world. Hub-and-spoke systems rely on the usage of an intermediate airport hub. They can either connect a domestic (or regional) air system if the market is large enough (e.g. United States, China, European Union) or international systems through longitudinal (e.g. Reykjavik) or latitudinal (Panama City) or both longitudinal and latitudinal (Dubai) intermediacy. An important aspect of an intermediate hub concerns maintaining schedule integrity. Airports that are prone to delays due to congestion are not effective hubs.

The traffic feed through hubs like Dubai enables the hubbing carrier (Emirates in this instance) to offer higher frequency service with larger aircraft at higher load factors , lowering the per passenger-kilometer cost. Traffic feed further permits a carrier to add services to more thinly traveled markets (e.g., in 2019, Emirates extended new nonstop services between Dubai and Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city).

global air travel meaning

Beginning in the 1970s, deregulation freed airlines to expand, consolidate, and reconfigure their hub-and-spoke systems to optimize their performance. Computer reservation systems and frequent flyer programs amplified the hubbing advantages of large carriers. These systems and programs leveraged the economies of scale provided by large hub-and-spoke carriers to draw still more traffic onto their networks.

The ability of airlines to spread their networks internationally has been limited both by the persistence of regulations and by the preferences that travelers have for their home country airlines. Carriers have overcome these limitations, at least partially, through the formation of alliances . Alliances are voluntary agreements to enhance the competitive positions of the partners. Members benefit from greater scale economies, lowering transaction costs, and sharing risks while remaining commercially independent. Today, the largest alliance is the Star Alliance, which was launched in 1997 by Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS, Thai Airways International, and United Airlines. By 2022, 21 others had joined those five carriers, and the alliance’s combined network reached 193 countries with a combined fleet of more than 5,000 aircraft. The two other major alliances are SkyTeam (18 airlines led by Delta and Air France) and Oneworld (15 airlines led by British Airways and American Airlines).

Most large airlines belong to an alliance, a testament to the significant advantages of membership:

  • Codesharing . Members of an alliance can sell seats on one another’s flights so that, from the passenger’s perspective, a single airline appears to offer a seamless service even though multiple members’ flights might be involved in getting from A to B. Codesharing effectively enlarges an airline’s network and increases the chance of capturing customers.
  • Optimization of connections . Alliance members coordinate schedules at key hubs (e.g., Frankfurt for the Star Alliance) to facilitate connections from one member’s network to another. Adjacent gates in shared terminals accelerate connections. For example, all the Star Alliance airlines serving Beijing are co-located in Beijing Capital International Airport’s Terminal 3.
  • Geographical specialization . An airline in an alliance can tap global markets while specializing in its home market. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, Star Alliance member Air Canada served only seven hubs in East and Southeast Asia. Still, via its alliance partners, it gained access to dozens of other cities in the region. In turn, Asian members of the Star Alliance, such as Singapore Airlines (SIA), accessed Air Canada’s vast network in its home country.
  • Joint marketing . Alliance members reciprocate in frequent flyer programs and other marketing efforts. Travelers can earn and redeem miles across the members of an alliance.

The leading airlines in the alliances are full-service network carriers (FSNCs), also known as legacy airlines. FSNC refers to the fact that these airlines offer a wide array of services (especially for passengers in first or business class), and their key selling point is the reach of their networks (networks that have been stretched by the alliances). The phrase “legacy carrier” highlights the deep roots of these airlines, some of which, like KLM, Qantas, and Delta, rank among the oldest continuously operating carriers in the world.

Yet by the late 1990s, FSNCs as a group were losing the market share to LCCs. In 1998, there were approximately 60 budget airlines globally, and almost all of them were located in the US, Canada, and Western Europe. Together, they accounted for about 7 percent of all departure seat capacity per week worldwide. By 2018, there were approximately 140 LCCs; more than half were based in emerging markets, and accounting for about 31 percent of all seat capacity. Interestingly, budget airlines are most significant in middle-income emerging markets. In 2018, the countries where LCCs accounted for the largest share of capacity included Slovakia, Malaysia, Romania, India, and Mexico. In these countries (and their neighbors), the population that can afford air travel is growing, and competition from ground transport modes and from full-service network carriers (e.g., Air India) is weak. Conversely, budget carriers are weakest or altogether absent from poorer, authoritarian states with heavily protected state-owned flag carriers (e.g., Uzbekistan).

LCCs are distinguished by several  common features :

  • Fleet simplicity . Legacy carriers operate diverse fleets because they serve a diversity of routes, from long-hauls to feeders. LCCs emphasize short-haul routes. The minimal number of aircraft types (Southwest and Ryanair only fly B737s, though several different models) lowers operating costs.
  • High seating density . Budget airlines pack more seats in a typically all-economy class configuration. For instance, the budget airline EasyJet fits 180 seats in its Airbus A320 aircraft versus 144 seats on the same plane used on intra-European routes for British Airways.
  • Fast turnaround times . LCCs operate their networks in ways that keep their aircraft in the air earning money for a higher number of hours. Minimal inflight service, for instance, reduces the time needed to clean and cater flights.
  • Rapid growth . This is not just a product of the LCCs’ success but an element of it. Fast growth enables the LCCs to continue adding aircraft and staff at a steady pace, which keeps the average fleet age and average years of employee service low, both of which help keep operations costs low.
  • Emphasis on secondary airports . Secondary airports, such as Houston-Hobby instead of George Bush Houston Intercontinental or Charleroi instead of Brussels National, typically have lower landing and parking fees for airlines as well as a more entrepreneurial approach to recruiting new airline services. However, LCCs have also directly challenged established carriers in major airports.
  • Reduced importance of hubs . Most LCCs do have hubs, but for some carriers, hubs are substantially less important than they are for legacy carriers. Southwest Airlines, for instance, distributes air traffic more evenly among the top “focus cities” in its network than is true of any traditional hub-and-spoke airline. Whereas nearly half of all seat capacity on Delta Air Lines is on flights leaving just five hub cities, to reach the same share of capacity on Southwest Airlines requires combining eleven focus cities. Spreading traffic reduces vulnerability to congestion and frees aircraft to keep moving rather than waiting for arriving traffic at a hub.
  • Aggressive digitalization . Internet booking has partially neutralized the one-time advantage that legacy carriers enjoyed through their proprietary computer reservation systems. LCCs have been industry leaders in using automated kiosks and smartphones to accelerate the check-in process. Digitalization has also facilitated segmented services and monetized once-included amenities such as seat selection, priority boarding, meals, and luggage allowance.
  • Avoidance of global alliances . LCCs have stayed out of the big alliances discussed above because they come with obligations that can increase a member’s costs.

These and other advantages explain the gap between fares offered by LCCs and full-service network carriers. In advanced markets, decades of competition between these two types of airlines have whittled away the differences. In 2016, US network carriers had costs per available seat-mile about 40 percent higher than American LCCs. In developing countries, conversely, the budget airline phenomenon is newer, and the gap between LCCs and legacy carriers is generally wider. For instance, Singapore Airlines had unit costs twice as high as Malaysia-based LCC AirAsia in 2016. Still, the world’s largest airlines are almost all network carriers. Southwest Airlines, the pioneer LCC, is the only LCC to rank among the world’s  20 largest airlines .

LCCs are important in broadening the air transportation market beyond the relatively small affluent population in countries such as India and Brazil. Budget airlines’ slogans frequently highlight this democratizing effect, as in AirAsia’s motto “Now everyone can fly”, Wizz Air’s (Hungary) “Now we can all fly”, and Jambojet’s (Kenya) “Now you can fly”. These are exaggerations, but there is little doubt that LCCs have expanded the affordability of air travel.

Meanwhile, in advanced markets, the notion of a low-cost carrier is losing some of its meaning as budget airlines and full-service network carriers converge in some of their business practices and cost structures. The degree to which FSNCs have emulated low-cost carriers is a testament to the latter’s success, as is the fact that in numerous markets, the largest airline is now a budget carrier.

global air travel meaning

5. The Future of Flight

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most severe crisis in civil aviation since World War II. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has estimated worldwide airline industry losses at $84 billion for 2020. By April 2020, air traffic in most markets plummeted by more than 90% versus the same time in the previous year. By mid-2022, however, traffic levels were back to near pre-pandemic levels in North America and Western Europe. In fact, traffic recovered faster than expected in these markets, causing significant schedule problems. Airlines had sharply downsized their fleets and staff levels early in the pandemic, leaving them ill-prepared for the resumption of high traffic levels in 2022.

Longer-term challenges may emerge from the pandemic. The shift towards forms of teleworking, tele-education, and teleconferences may engender enduring changes in business travel behavior . Leisure travel behavior may also change. For instance, in 2021, tourists preferred shorter, domestic, or regional nonstop flights due to the increased exposure that comes with long-distance travel via hubs, including the burden of regulations, testing, and quarantine procedures associated with international travel. However, such preferences were less noticeable as testing and quarantine procedures were removed for most international travel in 2022.

The pandemic may also accelerate the shift away from full-service airlines toward LCCs. A large number of network carriers’ A380s and B747s parked in desert “boneyards” will never again carry passengers. For instance, Air France retired its A380 fleet in 2022. Between 2020 and 2022, the COVID-19 crisis shifted the balance of the industry toward cargo. Freight rates jumped during the pandemic, and cargo’s share of industry revenue soared from 12 percent in 2019 to 26 percent in 2020. Some airlines even converted a part of their passenger planes into cargo planes to take advantage of historically high freight rates that resulted.

global air travel meaning

Beyond the COVID-19 crisis, numerous clouds are on the horizon for civil aviation. First, the airline industry must be financially strong enough to continue to afford new generations of aircraft upon which further gains in efficiency and improved environmental performance depend. The development costs of new jetliners, even after adjusting for inflation, are unprecedented, partly because the latest generation of aircraft incorporates so many complex interfacing systems. The financial health of the industry’s largest airlines is particularly important because great carriers have previously provided the launch orders for new airliners. Pan Am, for instance, launched the B707 and B747; United launched the B767 and B777; Air France and Lufthansa provided the launch orders for most of Airbus’ early airliners; and Asian carriers such as Singapore Airlines and All Nippon Airways have been significant launch customers since 2000. By contrast, the LCCs’ focus on a handful of smaller, relatively short-haul aircraft limits their capacity to serve as catalysts for technological breakthroughs in aviation.

global air travel meaning

Still, both Boeing and Airbus promise that their newest jetliners will offer unparalleled fuel efficiency . That is important because a second fundamental threat to the future of the airline industry is the price and availability of fuel. In 2018, fuel accounted for about 24 percent of the operating costs of airlines globally. As noted above, aviation is less amenable to substituting conventional fossil fuels than ground transport modes, though numerous innovations show promise. The spike in fuel prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine added impetus to decarbonizing the air transport sector.

A third threat is terrorism and security . The rise of the airline industry was partly facilitated by the steady advance in the safety and predictability of air travel from the early 20th century “Flying Coffins”. Terrorism directed against civil aviation threatens the confidence of ordinary travelers, and added security constraints sap some of the speed advantages of aviation. The September 11 attacks caused a two-year dip in traffic levels. The 2001 attacks were the most significant to affect the airline industry in the United States. Still, before and after those attacks, civil aviation was a frequent target of terrorist attacks in the Middle East, Europe, and other parts of the world.

With the growth of air traffic, airports were facing capacity pressures and congestion before the COVID-19 pandemic, which in some cases, resulted in changes in the  scheduling of flights . In the United States, a flight that arrives more than 15 minutes past its scheduled time is considered late. Airlines are posting longer flight times to maintain the appearance of schedule integrity. For instance, a flight from New York to Los Angeles scheduled to take 5 hours in the 1960s is now scheduled to take more than 6 hours. A 45 minutes flight from New York to Washington saw its scheduled duration extended to one hour and 15 minutes.

global air travel meaning

Before the pandemic, emerging economies such as India, Indonesia, and Brazil saw a surge in air travel demand, both for domestic and international markets, a trend that strained their air transport systems. An essential means of dealing with this challenge has been the modernization of air traffic control systems , some of which remain highly fragmented. For instance, using satellite-based navigation, air travel can be improved with better flight paths and more direct descents. The outcomes include shorter flight times, improved safety, and lower fuel consumption and environmental emissions. Such innovations are likely to be very important again as traffic levels recover.

Environmental concerns are perhaps the darkest cloud on the horizon for civil aviation. Aviation has accounted for a growing share of environmental externalities , and strategies to curtail emissions and noise could mean higher aviation taxes, higher airfares, and restrictions on aircraft operations (e.g., nighttime curfews). Those most alarmed by aviation’s environmental impacts will likely resist the return to pre-pandemic practices, and governments may have the leverage to do so. The severe financial distress of the airline industry sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn governments back into the industry. In 2020, airlines received hundreds of billions of dollars in state aid, often with strings attached, giving governments new leverage over carriers. For instance, the French government has pressured Air France to become “greener”, including reducing competition with rail on short-haul sectors, as part of its bailout of the airline.

Ultimately, the speed with which air links have been reopened even during the pandemic speaks to the degree to which “aeromobility” is intertwined into the fabric of everyday life across much of the world. The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and responses to longer-term concerns about air transportation’s role in climate change will change the trajectory and geography of aviation. Perhaps these crises will hasten the introduction of new, more environmentally friendly technologies such as electric aircraft. However, traffic volumes will almost certainly regain and surpass the heights attained before the pandemic. Air transportation will remain a vital force shaping the contours and tempo of society at scales ranging from the local to the global.

Related Topics

  • 6.5 – Airport Terminals
  • B.6 – Mega Airport Projects
  • 5.1 – Transportation Modes: An Overview
  • B.7 – International Tourism and Transport
  • B.19 – Transportation and Pandemics

Bibliography

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  • Agusdinata, B. and W. de Klein (2002) “The dynamics of airline alliances”, Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 8, pp. 201-211.
  • Air Transport Association (2010) The Airline Handbook.
  • Air Transport Action Group (2008) The Economic Benefits of Air Transport.
  • Allaz, C. (2005) History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century, London: Christopher Foyle Publishing.
  • Bilstein, R.E. (1983) Flight Patterns: Trends of Aeronautical Development in the United States, 1918-1929. Athens: University of Georgia Press.
  • Bowen, J. (2010) The Economic Geography of Air Transportation: Space, Time, and the Freedom of the Sky. London:  Routledge .
  • Bowen, J. (2019) Low-Cost Carriers in Emerging Countries. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Brueckner, K. (2003) “Airline traffic and urban economic development”, Urban Studies, Vol. 40, No. 8, pp. 1455-1469.
  • Davies, R.E.G. (1964) A History of the World’s Airlines. London: Oxford University Press.
  • Dick, R. and D. Patterson (2003) Aviation Century: The Early Years. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press.
  • Fuellhart, K. and K. O’Connor (2019) “A supply-side categorization of airports across global multiple-airport cities and regions”, GeoJournal,Vol. 84, No. 1, pp 15-30.
  • Goetz, A.R. and L. Budd (eds) (2014) The Geographies of Air Transport, Transport and Mobility Series, Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.
  • Graham B. (1995) Geography and Air Transport, Chichester: Wiley.
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Global air travel has reached 74% of pre-pandemic levels. Which region has had the biggest rebound?

Global air traffic has surged back to nearly three quarters of pre-pandemic levels.

Travellers have returned to the skies as the last COVID-19 border restrictions have eased.

Global air travel has reached nearly three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels, new figures have shown.

Passenger traffic reached 74 per cent of 2019 heights in September, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This marks a 57 per cent increase on the same period in 2021.

“Even with economic and geopolitical uncertainties, the demand for air transport continues to recover ground, ” said IATA director general Willie Walsh.

IATA represents 290 airlines accounting for 83 per cent of global air traffic.

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Where has air-traffic rebounded the most?

At the peak of the pandemic, global air traffic plummeted to a fraction of 2019 levels, dropping by around 80 per cent.

Since 2021, travel has been creeping back. But the most dramatic year-on-year bounce-backs occurred in regions that have only recently lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions.

In the Asia Pacific - a region stretching from China to New Zealand - travel has rocketed 464.8 per cent compared to last year.

The massive uptick comes weeks after Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan eased border rules.

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“The outlier is still China with its pursuit of a zero COVID strategy keeping borders largely closed,” Walsh said.

In the Middle East , airlines saw a 150 per cent rise in traffic. North American and Latin American airlines experienced increases of 129 per cent and 99 per cent, respectively.

African carriers’ traffic rose 91 per cent, while European airlines experienced an uptick of 78 per cent.

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  • Train travel: France and Germany plan discounted ticket for young people 

Where is travel still low?

Though 109 countries still have some travel restrictions in place, 118 are completely open - at least to vaccinated travellers.

China is still pursuing a zero-COVID policy, meaning September demand was down 46.4 per cent on last year’s figures. All incoming travellers face 10 days of hotel quarantine at their own expense.

Though air traffic is rebounding , the emergence of ‘flight-free’ movements in recent years have encouraged many travellers to turn to more sustainable modes of transport like trains.

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The World Bank

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To assist clients in establishing a safe, functional, efficient, affordable, and reliable air transport network, the Bank is mandated to undertake the following activities:

  • Operational work through projects and technical assistance.
  • Economic sector work, research, and knowledge dissemination on air transport related issues.
  • External relations and collaboration with partner organizations.
  • Internal services (e.g., the airline advisory service for WBG staff).

These activities are detailed in a comprehensive annual report, which aims to outline the objectives, instruments, and outcomes of the WBG's development activities in the field of air transportation.

The World Bank

Link to archives: Into the Jet Age

In the early days, the World Bank financed equipment such as aircraft for state-owned airlines, and undertook standalone infrastructure projects. With the liberalization of the air transport sector worldwide, and the privatization of many state-owned airlines, the World Bank shifted its pure investment focus to incorporate capacity building, policy and regulatory support.

In Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15), WBG’s Air Transport Portfolio amounted to US$1.47 billion, an increase of 2% from Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14). The Air Transport segment makes up around 3% of the WBG’s US$45 billion Transport portfolio. The WBG’s FY15 Transport portfolio consists approximately 19% of the WBG’s active portfolio of US$248 billion (excluding MIGA). The Air Transport portfolio includes around 26 projects or project components through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), as well as the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s portfolio of lending and investment advisories in the aviation sector. 

Major ongoing projects include the Pacific Aviation Investment Program , which is helping to promote safe and efficient air travel in the Pacific Islands by improving aviation infrastructure, management, and operations. The World Bank continues to finance large airport projects, such as the Cairo Airport Development Project - TB2 . The IFC is engaged in the sector through the provision of loans, equity, and advisory services to stimulate private sector investment, for example, Zagreb International Airport, Croatia and Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan.

The World Bank

  • The COVID-19 Pandemic and African Aviation : Policy Note
  • Air Transport Annual Report 2022
  • Previous Annual Reports
  • Conference Report 2019
  • Conference Report 2018
  • Developing Options for Upper Air Space Management for Pacific Island Countries
  • Tapping the Potential of Drones for Development
  • Low-Cost Technology to Improve Aviation Safety and Efficiency
  • Ready for Takeoff? The Potential for Low-Cost Carriers in Developing Countries
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  • FEATURE Can Low-Cost Carriers Help Developing Countries Take Off?

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This map shows the extent of global air travel

A British Airways airplane approaches Heathrow Airport in London May 21, 2010. British Airways posted a record 531 million pounds full-year loss on Friday, hit by the recession, industrial disputes and the winter snow, though its ambitions to break even next year could by hit by more strikes. The loss, BA's largest annual deficit since it was privatised in 1987, was less than the 590 million pounds ($846 million) shortfall predicted by analysts, and follows last year's 401 million loss. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (BRITAIN - Tags: TRANSPORT EMPLOYMENT BUSINESS)

There is a growing concern about air travel and it's impact on the environment. Image:  REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

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global air travel meaning

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Stay up to date:, travel and tourism.

In 2017 the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) documented a record-breaking 4.1 billion people waiting in line to check-in, go through security, shuffle on board a plane and take to the skies. This compares to just a few million passengers in the 1950s.

We are flying more frequently than ever before and taking more long-haul trips. With cargo flights also added into the mix, it is easy to see why there is growing concern about the aviation industry’s increasing impact on the environment. On the radar

Aviation app and website FlightRadar24 tracks the flow of air traffic around the globe. Like ants marching across the screen, the service uses tiny plane icons to show real-time flight paths around the world.

In March 2018, the site recorded its busiest day of air travel since it launched back in 2007, logging 202,157 commercial, cargo and personal flights in a single day. This is equivalent to 140 planes taking off every minute somewhere around the globe. According to FlightRadar24, weekdays tend to be busier than weekends and the figures for June showed that Fridays usually saw the most traffic. A tweet revealed that the busiest day of the year usually occurs during the last week in August, as passengers in the US and Europe take their final opportunity to get away on vacation before the new school year begins.

Sky-high business

The boom in air travel goes hand in hand with the growth of globalization, increased communications and mass tourism.

At the click of a button products can be ordered from the other side of the world and delivered in a week, or even a day or two. As global economies become more connected, air cargo has increased – ICAO figures showed freight traffic grew by 9.5% in 2017.

A study on the environmental impact of the tourism industry collected data from 160 countries to estimate the sector’s true carbon footprint. The findings indicate that our habit of jetting off on holiday may be doing more harm to the planet than previously estimated.

Have you read?

The link between income inequality and exposure to air pollution in china, 7 shocking facts about air pollution, this giant vacuum cleaner can suck air pollution right out of the sky.

Between 2009 and 2013 the industry’s carbon footprint jumped from 3.9 to 4.5 gigatonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide each year. This figure represents about 8% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and is four times greater than previous estimates of 2-3%. The study takes into account the direct impact of holiday flights, ground transfers and hotels, but goes further to include emissions from other factors related to tourism such as shopping, eating out and getting around.

Researchers concluded that global demand for tourism is outgrowing the industry’s efforts to go green, meaning that unless we drastically change our habits, emissions from flying look set to keep increasing in the future.

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Global air travel rebounds to 74 percent of pre-pandemic levels

Asia-Pacific region records by far the biggest jump in passenger traffic amid easing border restrictions.

A Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 plane takes off from Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia.

Global air travel continued its recovery from the pandemic in September as passenger traffic surged 57 percent compared with 2021, trade association figures have shown.

Passenger traffic reached 74 percent of pre-pandemic levels in September as people rushed back to travel following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also shown on Monday.

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The Asia Pacific, which was slower than other regions to lift border restrictions, recorded by far the biggest jump in travel, with passenger traffic soaring 465 percent compared with last year.

Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan recently lifted border restrictions in an effort to revive their pandemic-battered travel industries. China, the region’s biggest economy by far, continues to restrict non-essential travel by its citizens and subject all arrivals to 10 days of quarantine under its ultra-strict “dynamic zero COVID” policy .

Middle Eastern airlines recorded the next biggest rise in passenger traffic, up 150 percent, followed by North American and Latin American airlines, which saw traffic rise 129 percent and 99 percent, respectively.

African airlines’ traffic climbed 91 percent, while European carriers saw traffic rise 78 percent.

Broken down by domestic and international travel, overseas traffic climbed 122 percent, while internal traffic rose 7 percent.

In contrast, global air cargo demand, while just slightly below pre-pandemic levels, fell 11 percent compared with September 2021 as slowing economic growth and recession fears weighed on demand.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh welcomed the figures as a positive sign for global aviation in the face of economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

“The outlier is still China with its pursuit of a zero-COVID strategy keeping borders largely closed and creating a demand roller coaster ride for its domestic market, with September being down 46.4 percent on the previous year,” Walsh said.

“That is in sharp contrast to the rest of Asia Pacific, which, despite China’s dismal performance, posted a 464.8 percent increase for international traffic compared to the year-ago period.”

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Global Passenger Traffic

Passengers at airport iStock-1417005357 - Uncredited

Passenger traffic Passenger demand strong in August

Airport passengers iStock-1468235634 - Uncredited

July passenger traffic Strong passenger demand in July

Passengers in airport Dinga shutterstock 62378275 - Credit: Dinga shutterstock 62378275

June passenger traffic Northern hemisphere summer season starts strong

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May passenger traffic Good load factors as passenger traffic grows

Busy airport

April Passenger Traffic Domestic travel fully recovered from pandemic

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Passenger traffic continues to grow

global air travel meaning

Air travel recovery strengthens in 2022

IATA announced that the recovery in air travel continued in December 2022 and for the full year.

global air travel meaning

Passenger travel still on the road to recovery

IATA announced that the air travel recovery continued through November 2022.

global air travel meaning

Passenger traffic continues recovery

IATA announced that the recovery in air travel continued in October.

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Climate change and flying: what share of global CO2 emissions come from aviation?

Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global co₂ emissions, but 3.5% when we take non-co₂ impacts on climate into account..

Flying is a highly controversial topic in climate debates. There are a few reasons for this.

The first is the disconnect between its role in our personal and collective carbon emissions. Air travel dominates a frequent traveller's individual contribution to climate change. Yet aviation overall accounts for only 2.5% of global carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. This is because there are large inequalities in how much people fly – many do not, or cannot afford to, fly at all. 1

The second is how aviation emissions are attributed to countries. CO 2 emissions from domestic flights are counted in a country’s emission accounts. International flights are not – instead they are counted as their own category: ‘bunker fuels’. The fact that they don’t count towards the emissions of any country means there are few incentives for countries to reduce them.

It’s also important to note that unlike the most common greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane or nitrous oxide – non-CO 2 forcings from aviation are not included in the Paris Agreement. This means they could be easily overlooked – especially since international aviation is not counted within any country’s emissions inventories or targets.

How much of a role does aviation play in global emissions and climate change? In this article we take a look at the key numbers that are useful to know.

Global aviation (including domestic and international; passenger and freight) accounts for:

  • 1.9% of greenhouse gas emissions (which includes all greenhouse gases, not only CO 2 )
  • 2.5% of CO 2 emissions
  • 3.5% of 'effective radiative forcing' – a closer measure of its impact on warming.

The latter two numbers refer to 2018, and the first to 2016, the latest year for which such data are available.

Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global CO 2 emissions

As we will see later in this article, there are a number of processes by which aviation contributes to climate change. But the one that gets the most attention is its contribution via CO 2 emissions. Most flights are powered by jet gasoline – although some partially run on biofuels – which is converted to CO 2 when burned.

In a recent paper, researchers – David Lee and colleagues – reconstructed annual CO 2 emissions from global aviation dating back to 1940. 2 This was calculated based on fuel consumption data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), and earlier estimates from Robert Sausen and Ulrich Schumann (2000). 3

The time series of global emissions from aviation since 1940 is shown in the accompanying chart. In 2018, it’s estimated that global aviation – which includes both passenger and freight – emitted 1.04 billion tonnes of CO 2 .

This represented 2.5% of total CO 2 emissions in 2018. 4 , 5

Aviation emissions have doubled since the mid-1980s. But, they’ve been growing at a similar rate as total CO 2 emissions – this means its share of global emissions has been relatively stable: in the range of 2% to 2.5%. 6

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Non-CO 2 climate impacts mean aviation accounts for 3.5% of global warming

Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global CO 2 emissions, but it’s overall contribution to climate change is higher. This is because air travel does not only emit CO 2 : it affects the climate in a number of more complex ways.

As well as emitting CO 2 from burning fuel, planes affect the concentration of other gases and pollutants in the atmosphere. They result in a short-term increase, but long-term decrease in ozone (O 3 ); a decrease in methane (CH 4 ); emissions of water vapour; soot; sulfur aerosols; and water contrails. While some of these impacts result in warming, others induce a cooling effect. Overall, the warming effect is stronger.

David Lee et al. (2020) quantified the overall effect of aviation on global warming when all of these impacts were included. 2 To do this they calculated the so-called ‘Radiative Forcing’. Radiative forcing measures the difference between incoming energy and the energy radiated back to space. If more energy is absorbed than radiated, the atmosphere becomes warmer.

In their chart we see their estimates for the radiative forcing of the different elements. When we combine them, aviation accounts for approximately 3.5% of effective radiative forcing: that is, 3.5% of warming.

Although CO 2  gets most of the attention, it accounts for less than half of this warming. Two-thirds (66%) comes from non-CO 2 forcings. Contrails – water vapor trails from aircraft exhausts – account for the largest share.

We don’t yet have the technologies to decarbonize air travel

Aviation’s contribution to climate change – 3.5% of warming, or 2.5% of CO 2 emissions – is often less than people think. It’s currently a relatively small chunk of emissions compared to other sectors.

The key challenge is that it is particularly hard to decarbonize. We have solutions to reduce emissions for many of the largest emitters – such as power or road transport – and it’s now a matter of scaling them. We can deploy renewable and nuclear energy technologies, and transition to electric cars. But we don’t have proven solutions to tackle aviation yet.

There are some design concepts emerging – Airbus, for example, have announced plans to have the first zero-emission aircraft by 2035, using hydrogen fuel cells. Electric planes may be a viable concept, but are likely to be limited to very small aircraft due to the limitations of battery technologies and capacity.

Innovative solutions may be on the horizon, but they’re likely to be far in the distance.

Appendix: Efficiency improvements means air traffic has increased more rapidly than emissions

Global emissions from aviation have increased a lot over the past half-century. However, air travel volumes increased even more rapidly.

Since 1960, aviation emissions increased almost seven-fold; since 1970 they’ve tripled. Air traffic volume – here defined as revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) traveled – increased by orders of magnitude more : almost 300-fold since 1950; and 75-fold since 1960. 7

The much slower growth in emissions means aviation efficiency has seen massive improvements. In the chart we show both the increase in global airline traffic since 1950, and aviation efficiency, measured as the quantity of CO 2 emitted per revenue passenger kilometer traveled. In 2018, approximately 125 grams of CO 2  were emitted per RPK. In 1960, this was eleven-fold higher; in 1950 it was twenty-fold higher. Aviation has seen massive efficiency improvements over the past 50 years.

These improvements have come from several sources: improvements in the design and technology of aircraft; larger aircraft sizes (allowing for more passengers per flight); and an increase in how ‘full’ passenger flights are. This last metric is termed the ‘passenger load factor’. The passenger load factor measures the actual number of kilometers traveled by paying customers (RPK) as a percentage of the available seat kilometers (ASK) – the kilometers traveled if every plane was full. If every plane was full the passenger load factor would be 100%. If only three-quarters of the seats were filled, it would be 75%.

The global passenger load factor increased from 61% in 1950 to 82% in 2018 .

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The best estimates put this figure at around 80% of the world population. We look at this in more detail in our article " Where in the world do people have the highest CO2 emissions from flying? "

Lee, D. S., Fahey, D. W., Skowron, A., Allen, M. R., Burkhardt, U., Chen, Q., ... & Gettelman, A. (2020). The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018 . Atmospheric Environment , 117834.

Sausen, R., & Schumann, U. (2000). Estimates of the climate response to aircraft CO2 and NOx emissions scenarios . Climatic Change , 44 (1-2), 27-58.

The Global Carbon Budget estimated total CO 2 emissions from all fossil fuels, cement production and land-use change to be 42.1 billion tonnes in 2018. This means aviation accounted for [1 / 42.1 * 100] = 2.5% of total emissions.

Global Carbon Project. (2019). Supplemental data of Global Carbon Budget 2019 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Global Carbon Project. https://doi.org/10.18160/gcp-2019 .

If we were to exclude land use change emissions, aviation accounted for 2.8% of fossil fuel emissions. The Global Carbon Budget estimated total CO 2 emissions from fossil fuels and cement production to be 36.6 billion tonnes in 2018. This means aviation accounted for [1 / 36.6 * 100] = 2.8% of total emissions.

2.3% to 2.8% of emissions if land use is excluded.

Airline traffic data comes from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) via Airlines for America . Revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) measures the number of paying passengers multiplied by their distance traveled.

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Global air travel will finally surpass pre-Covid levels in 2024, experts say

global air travel meaning

SINGAPORE - Global air travel volume is expected to finally exceed pre-Covid-19 levels in 2024 as the Asia-Pacific region makes a full recovery, said industry observers. Driven by sustained demand, this could make 2024 a banner year for airline profits.

The industry made a dramatic recovery in 2022 and 2023, bouncing back from record pandemic-era losses to near-2019 levels.

However, persistent supply issues and thin profit margins are among the obstacles to aviation’s strong showing.

Full global recovery

Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA) director-general Subhas Menon said: “In 2024, air travel recovery will be complete.”

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) forecasts that in 2024, airlines will make US$25.7 billion (S$34 billion) in profits, on the back of a record US$964 billion in revenue.

It expects all regions to hit pre-pandemic passenger levels by end-2023 – except for the Asia-Pacific, where full recovery is anticipated in early 2024.

For 2023, global revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) are expected to be 38.4 per cent higher than in 2022, but still 4.8 per cent short compared with 2019.

Defined as kilometres travelled by paying passengers, this is a key indicator of passenger demand and airline performance. Iata expects RPK to grow 9.8 per cent in 2024, rising to 4.5 per cent above 2019 levels.

All this is based on a projected 4.7 billion air passengers in 2024, 9 per cent more than the 4.5 billion in 2019.

Promising demand

The strong performance in 2023 bodes well for the coming year, said observers.

Mr Manfred Seah, chief financial officer at aviation gateway services provider Sats, said: “The global passenger travel recovery is encouraging, despite the continuing macroeconomic uncertainties and current geopolitical situation.”

AAPA’s Mr Menon highlighted a trend of discretionary spending going to services such as food and beverage, entertainment and tourism, rather than material goods. He believes this will continue in 2024.

Mr Bertrand Saillet, managing director for travel management company FCM Travel Asia, noted that rising demand has pushed up airfares in Asia. For the year to date, economy-class fares in the region are up 21 per cent, while business-class fares are 17 per cent higher compared with 2019.

FCM Travel Asia also saw more bookings for corporate travel in November 2023 compared with a year ago, and expects travel demand to continue to grow in 2024.

Economic resilience, too, should continue. Mr Andrew Matters, Iata’s director for policy and economics, highlighted the International Monetary Fund’s projections for global gross domestic product growth of 3 per cent in 2024 and “robust” labour markets, with unemployment rates in many countries at or near record lows.

“I think it’s very clear that there’s pent-up demand, people want to travel,” he said. Strong labour markets mean that “not only do people want to fly, they have also got the means to fly”.

The China question

But Iata’s projections are “highly dependent on the continued strong recovery in the China market”.

One downside risk is a poorer-than-expected recovery for China, which would hurt demand. Pre-pandemic, China accounted for a fifth of Asia-Pacific’s flight traffic.

According to AAPA, as at September 2023, China flight traffic was just 54 per cent of 2019 levels. But excluding China, Asia-Pacific volumes had reached 87 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Mr Menon noted various factors hindering the recovery of outbound China traffic, including instability in the property market, a weak currency, fewer China students going abroad, and rising youth unemployment.

There is also a backlog of passports to be issued, and the Chinese government is encouraging domestic spending instead.

Nevertheless, Mr Menon expects China to “grow strongly” in 2024 and thus the Asia-Pacific will recover fully, with some markets exceeding 2019 levels.

“China’s recovery is subdued but overall travel to China will grow strongly and Chinese airlines will also partake in this revival,” he said.

Aircraft supply constrained

However, soaring demand might be constrained by supply, as is the case in 2023. This is expected to continue through 2024 or even 2025, as supply chain issues hinder aircraft deliveries and maintenance.

Iata director-general Willie Walsh said: “(Manufacturers) continue to disappoint not only with delays in the delivery of new aircraft, but also getting access to spare parts for aircraft in service.”

Airbus and Boeing have faced supply chain disruptions and production delays. So have engine manufacturers Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, leading to more maintenance and downtime for aircraft.

Mr Goh Choon Phong, chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines (SIA), expects the airline’s capacity to reach around 92 per cent of pre-pandemic levels this December – with the shortfall due partly to delays in aircraft delivery and parts.

An SIA spokesperson said that an order of 31 Boeing 777-9 planes, scheduled for delivery in 2024, has been delayed. No estimate was given for the new delivery timing.

As at October 2023, Airbus and Boeing have massive backlogs of orders – a record 8,024 for Airbus and a near-record 5,783 for Boeing.

Mr Raul Villaron, vice-president Asia-Pacific for Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer, said: “What we are seeing now is a scarcity of aircraft on the market.”

“If you look at Boeing and Airbus, new deliveries only start in 2028 or 2029,” he said, adding that he expects production and supply issues to continue for two to three years.

Soaring, but on thin air

The outlook could also be clouded by the airline industry’s thin margins. Mr Walsh said Iata’s projected net profit margin of 2.7 per cent is “far below” what investors in industries would expect.

“There are some airlines doing well, but in the main, this industry is not recovering its cost of capital. It’s still struggling at a global level.”

Iata’s Mr Matters noted that macroeconomic conditions, fuel prices and regional conflicts could continue to dictate the industry’s fortunes in 2024.

For example, while low unemployment drives flight demand, it could make it harder to find skilled manpower and put upward pressure on wage costs, he said.

Oil and fuel prices, which spiked when the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, are still “relatively high”, Mr Matters added. Iata predicts that fuel costs could grow 6.9 per cent to US$914 billion.

Still, observers agree that these factors will hamper but not ground the aviation industry.

Said Mr Menon: “All costs – not just fuel – are also spiking. Inflation and other economic concerns will hit pockets. But travel demand is resilient.

“I think we can pretty much stop talking about the recovery. The recovery is kind of over, we’re now looking ahead, we’re looking forward.” THE BUSINESS TIMES

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TSA PreCheck® and Global Entry are both Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Trusted Traveler Programs. TSA PreCheck® provides expedited security screening benefits for flights departing from U.S. Airports. Global Entry provides expedited U.S. customs screening for international air travelers when entering the United States. Global Entry members also receive TSA PreCheck® benefits as part of their membership.

Before you apply, we recommend that you review the various DHS trusted traveler programs, such as the TSA PreCheck® Application Program, Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI, to ensure you meet the eligibility requirements and determine the best program for you.  If you travel internationally four or more times a year, consider enrolling in Global Entry.  If you take less than four international trips a year, TSA PreCheck is a great choice for domestic travelers. For more information on all of the DHS Trusted Traveler Programs use the DHS interactive  Trusted Traveler Tool .

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Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Members enter the United States by accessing the Global Entry processing technology at selected airports .

At airports, program members proceed to the Global Entry lanes where processing technology will be used to expedite the members by capturing a photo to verify their membership. Once the photo has been captured, the member will receive on-screen instructions and proceed to a CBP officer who will confirm that you have successfully completed the process.

Travelers must be pre-approved for the Global Entry program. All applicants undergo a rigorous background check and in-person interview before enrollment. If a traveler was unable to schedule an interview at an Enrollment Center prior to their international travel, they have an option to complete their interview via Enrollment on Arrival upon their arrival to the United States.

Another upcoming processing technology option for travelers will be the Global Entry Mobile App. This app will enable members to validate their arrival to the U.S. on their iOS or Android device prior to entering the Federal Inspection Services area.

While Global Entry’s goal is to speed travelers through the process, members may still be selected for further examination when entering the United States. Any violation of the program’s terms and conditions will result in the appropriate enforcement action and termination of the traveler’s membership privileges.

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Since 1971, Travel + Leisure editors have followed one mission: to inform, inspire, and guide travelers to have deeper, more meaningful experiences. T+L's editors have traveled to countries all over the world, having flown, sailed, road tripped, and taken the train countless miles. They've visited small towns and big cities, hidden gems and popular destinations, beaches and mountains, and everything in between. With a breadth of knowledge about destinations around the globe, air travel, cruises, hotels, food and drinks, outdoor adventure, and more, they are able to take their real-world experience and provide readers with tried-and-tested trip ideas, in-depth intel, and inspiration at every point of a journey.

What Is Global Entry?

How does global entry help you, how is global entry different from tsa precheck, how much does global entry cost, do credit cards pay for global entry, how to get global entry, what do i need for the global entry interview, how long does it take to get global entry, how to use global entry, which airports have global entry.

  • What If the Person You're Traveling With Doesn’t Have Global Entry?

How Long Does Global Entry Last?

If you've ever arrived on an international flight carrying 500 passengers, you know that the customs line can be brutally long. And after you've endured many hours of traveling, perhaps even a couple layovers, waiting in line to reenter your own country is the last thing you want. This is where Global Entry comes in handy.

The Global Entry line is guaranteed to be shorter, if there's one at all, and instead of meeting with a customs agent, Global Entry holders simply scan their documents at an automated kiosk that typically takes a fraction of the time. Ready to have your homecoming expedited for all your future travels? Here's everything you need to know about the U.S. Global Entry program.

Global Entry is a program run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection that helps Americans avoid the customs line when coming back into the country and when entering other countries where a Global Entry kiosk is available. Travelers who have gone through the application and screening process are able to reenter the U.S. by just checking in at an electronic kiosk. There is no paperwork to mail in and rarely a line at the airport, so Global Entry holders often end up reunited with their luggage and loved ones faster as a result of their membership.

Travelers approved for Global Entry also get TSA PreCheck . So, in addition to getting back into the country (and into other select countries) faster, you'll gain access to shorter security lines and streamlined screening before your flight. Once you're approved for the program, you'll receive a nine-digit Known Traveler Number or "PASSID" (the Known Traveler Number is for TSA PreCheck, and it becomes a PASSID when the member has Global Entry and PreCheck). You can then add your PASSID to your frequent flier profiles to use when booking flights.

TSA PreCheck expedites your security process when entering the airport, whereas Global Entry eases your customs experience when returning to the U.S. However, Global Entry travelers qualify for PreCheck as a perk of their Global Entry status. Global Entry essentially gets you PreCheck and then some — and it costs just $22 more than TSA PreCheck alone.

It costs $100 (nonrefundable, even if you're denied) to apply for Global Entry, and that fee covers you for five years. However, you may be able to get Global Entry for free, or even help a friend or family member do so, just by using a certain credit card.

Some credit cards — such as several by American Express , Capital One , Bank of America , and Chase — will reimburse you if you use them to pay for the Global Entry application fee. Furthermore, you can sometimes use a credit card to pay for someone else's Global Entry and still receive the rebate (though you usually have to choose whether to use the benefit for yourself or someone else, not both).

The first step is to create a Trusted Traveler Programs account on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website. Once you're logged in, fill out the Global Entry application and pay the fee. U.S. Customs and Border Protection will review your application and conduct a background check, and if it's conditionally approved, you'll make an appointment for an in-person interview at a U.S. Global Entry Enrollment Center.

First off, applying for U.S. Global Entry doesn't mean your interview is going to happen in the following days or even the following weeks. In fact, it could take a few months. However, if you don't want to wait, you can try your luck as a walk-in. Whether you walk in or show up for a scheduled appointment, you'll need to bring a printed copy of your conditional letter of approval, your passport or permanent resident card, and proof of residency (your driver's license works).

For super-expedited approval , you can opt for Enrollment on Arrival (EoA), which allows applicants "who are conditionally approved to complete their interviews upon arrival into the United States," Customs and Border Control says. "The EoA program eliminates the need for a Global Entry applicant to schedule an interview at an enrollment center to complete the application process." The EoA interview could take 10 minutes or less.

The entire process, from applying for Global Entry to getting your card, could take as little as three weeks or as long as six months. You should prepare for the latter. Wait times depend on the number of Global Entry applicants Customs and Border Control is fielding at a time. Of course, you can try to expedite the process with a walk-in interview or Enrollment on Arrival.

When you're given a Known Traveler Number after getting approved for Global Entry, you'll want to start providing that number when booking flights. Then, when heading to customs to get back into the U.S., follow signs for Global Entry and wait in the (wonderfully short) kiosk line. You'll scan your passport or permanent resident card at the kiosk, verify your fingerprints, and declare any items you're bringing back into the country. You'll then get a receipt, and you won't have to fill out the infamous blue-and-white paper customs form flight attendants hand out on international flights.

There are currently Global Entry kiosks at about 80 airports in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., major travel hubs like Los Angeles International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Miami International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, Dulles International Airport, and Newark Liberty International Airport have the kiosks, as do smaller airports like Ohio's Toledo Express Airport and Vermont's Burlington International Airport. Alaska has them in Fairbanks and Anchorage, and Hawaii has them in Honolulu. Keep in mind that some of the locations do not offer Enrollment on Arrival.

Abroad, you'll find Global Entry kiosks at Abu Dhabi International Airport, throughout the Caribbean and Canada, and in the North Pacific and Ireland.

What If the Person You're Traveling With Doesn’t Have Global Entry?

You can't take any travel companions who don't have Global Entry with you through the kiosks because the system is automated and requires proof of membership. That also goes for young children, so if you want your four-year-old to enter the U.S. with Global Entry, they would need to undergo the same application and screening process to enroll.

Global Entry lasts five years starting on your first birthday after receiving a card and expiring on your birthday in the fifth year (the expiration date can be found on your card). Members become eligible to renew their Global Entry status one year prior to that expiration date and can do so by logging into their Trusted Traveler Programs account and submitting a renewal application, which requires another $100 fee. If you submit the renewal application before your membership expires and it isn't approved before the expiration date, you will be able to continue using your benefits for 24 months after the expiration.

global air travel meaning

Flying Is Weird Right Now

Is flying less safe? Or are we just paying closer attention?

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

Somewhere over Colorado this weekend, while I sat in seat 21F, my plane began to buck, jostle, and rattle. Within seconds, the seat-belt indicator dinged as the pilot asked flight attendants to return to their seats. We were experiencing what I, a frequent flier, might describe as “intermediate turbulence”—a sustained parade of midair bumps that can be uncomfortable but by no means terrifying.

Generally, I do not fear hurtling through the sky at 500 miles per hour, but at this moment I felt an unusual pang of uncertainty. The little informational card poking out of the seat-back pocket in front of me started to look ominous—the words Boeing 737-900 positively glared at me as the cabin shook. A few minutes later, once we’d found calm air, I realized that a steady drumbeat of unsettling aviation stories had so thoroughly permeated my news-consumption algorithms that I had developed a phobia of sorts.

More than 100,000 flights take off every day without issue, which means that incidents are treated as newsworthy anomalies. But it sure feels like there have been quite a few anomalies lately. In January, a Japanese coast-guard plane and a Japan Airlines plane collided on the runway, erupting in flames; a few days later, a door blew out on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jet shortly after takeoff. Then, in just the past few weeks:

  • A United Airlines flight in Houston heading to its gate rolled off the runway and into the grass.
  • Another United flight, en route from Houston to Fort Myers, Florida, made an emergency landing after flames started shooting out of one of its engines.
  • Yet another United flight was forced to make an emergency landing when a tire fell off the plane moments after takeoff.
  • Still another United flight , this one heading from San Francisco to Mexico, made an emergency landing due to a hydraulic-system failure.
  • The National Transportation Safety Board announced that it was investigating a February United flight that had potentially faulty rudder pedals.
  • Roughly 50 passengers were injured in New Zealand when pilots lost control of a Boeing plane and it plummeted suddenly.
  • A post-landing inspection revealed that an external panel was missing from a Boeing 737-800 plane that had landed in Oregon this past Friday.

United released a statement to passengers suggesting the incidents on its flights were unrelated but also “reminders of the importance of safety.” In that same statement, Scott Kirby, the company’s CEO, said that the incidents “have our attention and have sharpened our focus.”

This is only a partial list of the year’s aeronautical mishaps, which are prodigious: Consider investigations into Alaska Airlines that revealed numerous doors with loose bolts, the Airbus grounded for a faulty door light, or the Delta Boeing whose nose wheel popped off and “rolled down” a hill as the flight prepared to take off.

Read: The carry-on-baggage bubble is about to pop

Many people are wondering: What is going on with airplanes? In January, the booking site Kayak reported that it had seen “a 15-fold increase” in the use of its aircraft filter for Boeing 737 Max planes, suggesting that anxious travelers booking flights were excluding them from their searches. In response to the palpable audience interest, there’s been an uptick in media interest in aviation stories.

Meanwhile, poking fun at Boeing—whose standards and corporate culture have understandably come under scrutiny in the past few years after it was charged with fraud and agreed to pay $2.5 billion in settlements—has become a meme , a way to nervously laugh at the cavalcade of bad news and to gesture at the frustration over corporate greed that seems to put overcharged air travelers at risk. (Boeing responded to the Alaska Airlines door incident by acknowledging that the company “is accountable for what happened,” and pledged to make internal changes. And last week, Executive Vice President Stan Deal sent a message to employees outlining steps the company is taking to improve its planes’ safety and quality, including adding new “layers” of inspection to its manufacturing processes.)

Despite all of this, flying has, in a historical sense at least, never been safer. A statistician at MIT has found that, globally, the odds of a passenger dying on a flight from 2018 to 2022 were 38 times lower than they were 50 years earlier. The National Safety Council found in 2021 that, over the course of a person’s life, the odds of dying as an aircraft passenger in the U.S. “were too small to even calculate.” One aviation-safety consultant recently told NBC News , “There’s not anything unusual about the recent spate of incidents—these kinds of things happen every day in the industry.” A separate industry analyst told Slate in February, “Flying is literally safer than sitting on the ground … I don’t know how I can stress that enough.” That we know so much about every little failure and close call in the skies is, in part, because the system is so thorough and so safe.

So what’s really going on? I suspect it’s a confluence of two distinct factors. The first is that although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever. The pandemic had a cascading effect on the business of air travel. One estimate suggests that in the past four years, roughly 10,000 pilots have left the commercial airline industry, as many airlines offered early retirement to employees during the shutdown and pre-vaccine periods, when fewer people were traveling. There are also shortages of mechanics and air traffic controllers.

All of that is now coupled with an increase in passenger volume: In 2023, flight demand crept back up to near pre-pandemic levels, and staffing has not caught up. It is also an especially expensive time to fly . Pile on unruly passengers , system outages , baggage fees, carry-on restrictions, meager drink and snack offerings, and the trials and tribulations of merely coexisting with other travelers who insist on lining up at the gate 72 hours before their zone boards and you have a perfectly combustible situation. Air travel is an impressive daily symphony of logistics, engineering, and physics. It’s also a total grind.

Trust in Boeing declined in recent months, according to consumer surveys, even if consumers still trust the airline industry as a whole . It makes sense that the distrust in Boeing would bleed outward. All conspiracy theories are rooted in some aspect of personal experience, and plenty of information exists out there to confirm one’s deepest suspicions: The New York Times described Boeing’s past safety issues as “ capitalism gone awry ” in 2020, and there is plenty of evidence that the company culture hasn’t changed enough since then. At least two aviation experts (one a former Boeing employee) have publicly stated their concerns about flying in certain Boeing planes. It doesn’t help that Boeing is the subject of an NTSB investigation and is struggling to present the requested evidence in the Alaska door case, or that earlier this month a Boeing whistleblower died by suicide.

Read: What’s gone wrong at Boeing

Then there is the second factor: vibes . Existing online means getting exposed to so much information that it has become quite easy to hear about individual problems, but incredibly difficult to determine their overall scale or relevance. On TikTok, you might be exposed to entire genres of ominous flight videos: “Flight Attendant Horror,'” “Scary Sounding Planes,” “The Scariest Plane.” Even those who are not specifically mainlining these clips may suffer from an algorithmic selection bias: the more interest a person has in the recent plane malfunctions, the more likely that person might be to see more stories and commentary about planes in general. Meanwhile, an uptick in interest in stories about airline mishaps can lead to an increase in coverage of airline mishaps, which has the effect of making more routine issues feel like they’re piling up. Some of that reporting can be downright sensational , and news organizations are now also covering incidents they would have previously ignored .

This distortion—between public perception of an issue (planes are getting less safe!) and the more boring reality (they’re actually very safe)—is exacerbated by the intensity and density of information. It is a modern experience to stumble upon a meme, theory, or narrative and then see it in all of your feeds. Similarly, platforms make it easier for complex, disparate stories to collapse into simpler ways of seeing the world. Air safety slots nicely into this framework and, given the sterling record of the industry, a couple of loose or missing screws on a Boeing jet begins to feel both like a systemic failure and proof of something bigger: a kind of societal decay at the hands of increasing shareholder value.

These are feelings, vibes. They aren’t always accurate, but often that doesn’t matter because they’re so deeply felt. If that word— vibes —feels more prevalent in the lexicon in recent years, perhaps it is because more weird, hard-to-interpret information is available, pushing people toward trusting their gut feelings. Today’s air-travel anxiety sits at the intersection of these vibes, anecdotes, legitimate and troubling news reports, and the algorithmic distortion of the internet, creating a distinctly modern feeling of a large, looming problem, the exact contours of which are difficult to discern.

The vibes are off—this much we know for certain. Everything else is up for debate.

IMAGES

  1. This map shows the extent of global air travel

    global air travel meaning

  2. Visualising the global air travel industry

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  3. Global Air Travel Concept. Airplanes Around the Earth Globe, 3D

    global air travel meaning

  4. Global air travel routes.

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  5. Infographics of Air Travel Around the World. Flight from Point To Point

    global air travel meaning

  6. Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog: Boeing's Eye-popping 2030 Air Travel Forecast

    global air travel meaning

COMMENTS

  1. This chart shows how global air travel is faring

    Air travel has picked up this year following COVID-19 disruptions in 2020 and 2021. However, weekly seat capacity on commercial passenger airlines is still some way below 2019 levels. There are also regional differences in how airlines have recovered following the pandemic. As international travel was brought to an abrupt halt in 2020 at the ...

  2. Global Air Travel Demand Continued Its Bounce Back in 2023

    December 2023 traffic rose 13.5% compared to the year-ago period. Latin American airlines posted a 28.6% traffic rise in 2023 over full year 2022. Annual capacity climbed 25.4% and load factor increased 2.1 percentage points to 84.7%, the highest among the regions. December demand climbed 26.5% compared to December 2022.

  3. 5.5

    Authors: Dr. John Bowen and Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue. Air transportation is the mobility of passengers and freight by any conveyance that can sustain controlled flight. 1. The Rise of Air Transportation. Air transportation was slow to take off after the Wright Brothers breakthrough at Kitty Hawk in 1903.

  4. Air travel

    Air travel. Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, jet aircraft, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliders, parachutes, or anything else that can sustain flight. [1] Use of air travel began vastly increasing in the 1930s: the number of Americans flying went from about 6,000 in 1930 to 450,000 by 1934 ...

  5. Visualising the global air travel industry

    Global air travel during the pandemic In 2019, some 4.5 billion passengers took 42 million flights worldwide. That is an average of 115,000 commercial flights every day, according to FlightRadar24 .

  6. Air Passenger Market Analysis

    The global air travel recovery pauses in August… As had already been indicated by bookings, global air travel - and in particular domestic China - was impacted by the Delta variant in August. Industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) were 56.0% below pre-crisis 2019 levels in August 2021. This is a

  7. Global air travel has reached 74% of pre-pandemic levels. Which region

    Global air travel has reached nearly three-quarters of pre-pandemic levels, new figures have shown. ... meaning September demand was down 46.4 per cent on last year's figures. All incoming ...

  8. Air Transport

    Air transport is an important enabler to achieving economic growth and development. Air transport facilitates integration into the global economy and provides vital connectivity on a national, regional, and international scale. It helps generate trade, promote tourism, and create employment opportunities.

  9. This map shows the extent of global air travel

    Aviation app and website FlightRadar24 tracks the flow of air traffic around the globe. Like ants marching across the screen, the service uses tiny plane icons to show real-time flight paths around the world. In March 2018, the site recorded its busiest day of air travel since it launched back in 2007, logging 202,157 commercial, cargo and ...

  10. Global air travel rebounds to 74 percent of pre-pandemic levels

    Global air travel continued its recovery from the pandemic in September as passenger traffic surged 57 percent compared with 2021, trade association figures have shown. Passenger traffic reached ...

  11. Economic Performance of the Airline Industry

    people, capital, technology and ideas - and falling air transport costs. COVID-19 has caused a significant loss in air connectivity. As a result of travel restrictions, unique city-pairs declined for the first time since the global financial crisis. In 2020, the number of unique city-pairs was reduced by 30%. In 2021,

  12. Global Air Travel Demand Continued Its Bounce Back in 2023

    The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the recovery in air travel continued in December 2023 and total 2023 traffic edged even closer to matching pre-pandemic demand.

  13. Global Passenger Traffic

    Global Passenger Traffic. Passenger traffic Passenger demand strong in August. Thursday 5th October 2023. ... IATA released May 2023 traffic data showing continued strong growth in air travel demand. Open-access content April Passenger Traffic Domestic travel fully recovered from pandemic.

  14. What does "Intercontinental Flights" mean? • GlobeAir

    Bridging Continents with Long-Distance Air Travel. Intercontinental Flights travel between different continents, covering long distances and often involving extended durations in the air. These flights are a significant component of global air travel and are particularly relevant in the context of private jet charter services.

  15. Climate change and flying: what share of global CO2 emissions come from

    Non-CO 2 climate impacts mean aviation accounts for 3.5% of global warming. Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global CO 2 emissions, but it's overall contribution to climate change is higher. This is because air travel does not only emit CO 2: it affects the climate in a number of more complex ways.

  16. Global air travel will finally surpass pre-Covid levels in 2024

    Dec 26, 2023, 08:24 AM. SINGAPORE - Global air travel volume is expected to finally exceed pre-Covid-19 levels in 2024 as the Asia-Pacific region makes a full recovery, said industry observers ...

  17. IATA

    WATS powered by the exceptional capabilities of PowerBI, a user-friendly data analytics tool that allows you to interact with data in a highly effective and efficient way. With WATS you can: Revenue Passengers (PAX) Access high-level, global perspectives on industry trends. Identify and analyze key metrics to gain deeper insights into industry ...

  18. What is the difference between Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® and the

    TSA PreCheck® and Global Entry are both Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Trusted Traveler Programs. TSA PreCheck® provides expedited security screening benefits for flights departing from U.S. Airports. Global Entry provides expedited U.S. customs screening for international air travelers when entering the United States. Global Entry members also receive TSA PreCheck® benefits as part ...

  19. Modeling monthly flows of global air travel passengers: An open-access

    The global flow of air travel passengers varies over time and space, but analyses of these dynamics and their integration into applications in the fields of economics, epidemiology and migration, for example, have been constrained by a lack of data, given that air passenger flow data are often difficult and expensive to obtain.

  20. Global Entry

    Apply Now! Trusted Traveler Program Enrollment Global Entry is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Members enter the United States by accessing the Global Entry processing technology at selected airports.

  21. Why You Should Get Global Entry and How It's Different From ...

    TSA PreCheck expedites your security process when entering the airport, whereas Global Entry eases your customs experience when returning to the U.S. However, Global Entry travelers qualify for ...

  22. IATA

    Translations: Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects overall traveler numbers to reach 4.0 billion in 2024 (counting multi-sector connecting trips as one passenger), exceeding pre-COVID-19 levels (103% of the 2019 total). Expectations for the shape of the near-term recovery have shifted slightly, reflecting the ...

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    Children, spouses, and travel companions can only use the Global Entry line if they have their own membership. Other Trusted Traveler Programs. If most of your travel is in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada, one of the other Trusted Traveler Programs (TTP) may be a better fit for you. TSA PreCheck, NEXUS and SENTRI give you access to faster security ...

  24. Flying Is Weird Right Now

    The first is that although air safety is getting markedly better over time, the experience of flying is arguably worse than ever. The pandemic had a cascading effect on the business of air travel.

  25. Air Travel Reaches 99% of 2019 Levels as Recovery Continues in ...

    Globally, traffic is now at 99.1% of November 2019 levels. International traffic rose 26.4% versus November 2022. The Asia-Pacific region continued to report the strongest year-over-year results (+63.8%) with all regions showing improvement compared to the prior year. November 2023 international RPKs reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels.

  26. Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Coast Guard Ends Search for 6 Missing

    Waning daylight and the rubble of the steel bridge are hampering search efforts for the six missing construction workers, officials said. "The water's deep. Visibility's low. It's cold as ...