In a recent report released by the International Air Transport Association, it was revealed Asia Pacific air travel demand rose by 8.2 per cent in 2015, when compared to the previous year, a larger increase than seen by both Europe and North America. The demand resulted from the growing number of direct airport connections available in Asia Pacific, as well as capacity increases from airlines in the region.

European carriers saw a demand of only 5 per cent, which the report blamed on strikes at Lufthansa and the end of Russian carrier Transaero due to bankruptcy. North American carriers saw a demand of 3.2 per cent. The regions with the largest increase in demand were the Middle East and Latin America, at 10.5 per cent and 9.3 per cent, respectively.

The above statistics address only international air demand, with separate statistics generated for domestic air travel. However, Asia still leads the way in this category, with India showing a growth of 25 per cent in domestic passenger traffic. Likewise, China saw a domestic passenger traffic growth of 8.2 per cent. These two countries held the top positions for domestic growth, beating out large players such as the United States.

“Aviation delivered strong results for the global economy in 2015, enabling connectivity and helping to drive economic development,” said Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA. “It is very disappointing to see that some governments still wrongly believe that the value of taxes and charges that can be extracted from air transport outweighs the benefits — economic and social — of connectivity. The most recent example is the dramatic increase in the Italian Council Tax levied on air passengers. This 33–38 per cent hike will damage Italian economic competitiveness, reduce passenger numbers by over 755,000 and GDP by EUR 146 million per year. An estimated 2,300 jobs a year will be lost. At a time when the global economy is showing signs of weakening, governments should be looking for ways to stimulate spending, not discourage it.”