It draws on research undertaken by a number of consultants and other specialists world-wide. Since their assumptions and methodologies vary widely and this can alter the conclusions significantly the estimates of the benefits that are made here are consistently conservative. The air transport industry plays a major role in world economic activity. Over 1,600 million passengers per year rely on the world's airlines for business and vacation travel. In every region of the world.
Air transport drives economic progress and in turn benefits from it.
Air transport acts as an economic catalyst, promoting leisure and lousiness activities, contributing to growth and increasing efficiency. By 2010 the number of people travelling by air could exceed 2.3 billion each year. In an increasingly global society, the contribution of the industry to the world's economies continues to grow day by day. Future economic growth will be jeopardised unless governments and other authorities invest substantially in the infrastructure necessary to support the air transport industry. Air transport is an essential service - measures must be taken to ensure its healthy growth.