Preliminary figures on scheduled services, released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), indicate that about 3.2 billion passengers used air transport for their business and tourism needs in 2014.

The annual total passengers figure was up by approximately five per cent compared to 2013 and is expected to reach over 6.4 billion by 2030, based on current projections.

The report said aircraft departures reached 33 million globally during 2014, establishing a new record and surpassing the 2013 figure by roughly one million flights.

It said solid global economic growth and improving world trade helped world scheduled passenger traffic grow at a rate of 5.9 per cent in 2014; expressed in terms of Revenue Passenger-kilometres (RPKs), compared to 5.5 per cent in 2013.

It observed that the Asia/Pacific region was the world’s largest air travel market in 2014, with a 31 per cent share in terms of world RPKs.

It said the second and third largest air travel markets were Europe and North America, representing 27 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.

The report said the Middle East region, accounting for nine per cent of world RPKs, recorded the fastest growth rate at 12.8 per cent.

The Latin America and Caribbean region increased by a solid 5.9 per cent while Africa growth registered 1.5 per cent.

“International scheduled passenger traffic grew by 6.3 per cent in 2014, up from the 5.7 per cent recorded in 2013. With the recovery in the Eurozone economy, European traffic increased by 5.7 per cent and accounted for the largest share of international RPKs with 38 per cent,” it stated.

It said Asia/Pacific had the second-largest share with 27 per cent, growing by 5.8 per cent. North America was also up by 3.1 per cent, in line with its improving economic conditions.

With its combined economic strength and airline network expansion, the Middle East recorded the highest international passenger traffic growth at 13.4 per cent.

The report said the Latin America/Caribbean region grew by a solid 6.2 per cent despite weakness in some of its economies, and carriers in Africa experienced the slowest growth rate of 1.7 per cent.

It said scheduled domestic passenger traffic increased by 5.1 per cent compared to 2013, with North America and the Asia/Pacific accounting for a combined 82 per cent of worldwide domestic traffic of 44 per cent for North America, and 38 per cent for Asia/Pacific.

It said Asia/Pacific domestic market experienced the fastest growth of 7.9 per cent compared to 2013, driven mainly by Chinese airlines which accounted for approximately 60 per cent of the region’s total domestic traffic.

The report observed that this was a reflection of improvement in world trade.

It said the Asia/Pacific was the world’s largest air freight market in 2014 with a 40 per cent share in terms of world FTKs; whereas Europe and North America came in at 22 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, while Middle Eastern airlines recorded the fastest growth in freight traffic in 2014 with a growth of 11.3 per cent.

It said the world’s major aircraft manufacturers would have delivered approximately 1,000 new commercial aircraft by the end of 2014, with orders recorded for over 2,000 more.