IATA projects that airlines will fly 7.8 billion passengers
by 2036, nearly double today's numbers.
The Asia-Pacific
region will be the growth leader, IATA said in its annual 20-Year Air Passenger Forecast.
"All indicators lead to growing demand for global
connectivity," IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac said. "It's
fantastic news for innovation and prosperity, which is driven by air links. It
is also a huge challenge for governments and industry to ensure we can
successfully meet this essential demand."
The forecast is based upon an expected compound annual
growth rate of 3.6%, slightly down from the 3.7% compound growth rate that IATA
forecasted last year.
Asia-Pacific will have an annual growth rate of 4.6%, double
the 2.3% that IATA forecasts for North America.
The organization warned that an increase in protectionist
trade policies around the world could reduce growth in airline passenger
traffic to 2.7% annually, thereby depressing the total number of passengers in
2036 by 1.1 billion.