Pay less to travel: Cheaper airfares revealed (but aviation’s still a $2.4 trillion industry)

THINK you can’t afford a holiday? A new report reveals just how much airfares have dropped over the past year.

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AN international report card on the aviation industry has revealed airfares fell at almost twice the rate of the cost of jet fuel in 2013.

The International Air Transport Association report shows a breathtaking 100,000 passenger and cargo flights were taken every day last year and airlines in the Asia-Pacific region were the busiest.

Worldwide airlines carried 3.1 billion passengers – up 5.1 per cent on 2012 – and almost a third flew in the Asia-Pacific region (1.012 billion).

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Europe was the second busiest airspace with 825.9 million passengers flying, followed by North America (818.9 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (240.5 million).

The price of air travel fell by 7.4 per cent – largely as a result of competition and a 3.9 per cent decrease in the cost of jet fuel.

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The American based Delta Airlines carried the most passengers with 120.6 million, followed by another from the US, Southwest Airlines, with 115.3 million.

Delta also had the biggest fleet with 743 aircraft.

China Southern Airlines was the third most popular carrier, transporting 91.5 million passengers, United Airlines came in fourth with 90.2 million, then American Airlines (86.8 million).

Qantas was the world’s 10th-busiest domestic airline, carrying more than 35 million people.

IATA CEO Tony Tyler said the global economic impact of aviation was estimated to be $2.4 trillion.

“By value, over a third of goods traded internationally are delivered by air, and some 58.1 million jobs are supported by aviation,” said Mr Tyler.

“It supports 3.4 per cent of global GDP.”

Originally published as Pay less to travel: Cheaper airfares revealed (but aviation’s still a $2.4 trillion industry)