A report quantifying aviation’s impact on the global economy was released last week.

According to new research from the Air Transport Action Group, the global air transport sector supports 65.5 million jobs and $2.7 trillion in global economic activity. The report, Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders, debuted at the ATAG Global Sustainable Aviation Summit in Geneva last week.

“There are over 10 million women and men working within the industry to make sure 120,000 flights and 12 million passengers a day are guided safely through their journeys. The wider supply chain, flow-on impacts and jobs in tourism made possible by air transport show that at least 65.5 million jobs and 3.6% of global economic activity are supported by our industry,” said Michael Gill, executive director, ATAG.

In the Asia Pacific region, 30.2 million jobs are supported by aviation and adjacent sectors.

Of the 65.5 million jobs supported by the sector, 10 million people work directly for the industry. Air travel carries 35 per cent of the world’s trade by value but less than 1 percent of the world’s trade by volume. On average, airfares are about 90 per cent cheaper than similar flights in the 1950s. The full report can be viewed online.