As time goes on, the global aviation market will tilt toward the Asia-Pacific region, said Hou Kan, regional director of airport, passenger, cargo and security of IATA North Asia. File photo.
China’s aviation market on course for No. 1
Official says the nation’s aviation market to become the world’s largest in just three to six years
By DM Chan
China will become to the world’s largest aviation market in the next three to six years, China Daily reported, citing the news website ThePaper.
China’s passenger throughput is expected to reach 980 million by 2022, while the figure in the US will fall between 950 million to 960 million, said the website, citing an official from the International Air Transport Association.
As time goes on, the global aviation market will tilt toward the Asia-Pacific region, where India’s market size ranking will rise to the third spot from seventh in the world and Indonesia’s to fifth from tenth, said Hou Kan, regional director of airport, passenger, cargo and security of IATA North Asia.
In the next 20 years, half the growth in the global aviation market will come from the Asia-Pacific region, which will account for 55 percent, while growth from China will account for 28 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, Hou said.
The fast-growing aviation market will add pressure to airport infrastructure, the report said. Among the world’s top 100 largest airports, only four have the infrastructure to satisfy the passenger volume growth in next five years.
Moreover, the traditional airline carriers will also be challenged by some non-aviation companies such as internet tech firms and logistics companies.
In the future, paperless service, utilizing big data to simplify security inspection on risk-free passengers, and automatic luggage sorting by artificial intelligence technology will be the development direction for airports, Hou said.
In addition, by the end of 2018, China’s civil aviation achieved a zero-accident record in over 100 months. And on-time flights in China reached 80.13 percent, according to the latest statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
“We forecast that over the next twenty years, China’s annual market growth will be, on average, around five percent,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, told Xinhua.
“The aviation industry is growing and generating huge benefits for the world. A doubling of air passengers in the next 20 years could support 100 million jobs globally.”