In 2019, almost 47 million flights took off worldwide, carrying a total of around 4.4 billion passengers, more than ever before. The reasons for this were cheap airline tickets, high population growth and increasing prosperity, which means that more and more people around the world can afford to travel by air.
In 2020, the number of flights plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The industry is still a long way from its previous peak:
In 2023, around 38 million flights took off worldwide – still 19 percent fewer than in 2019. They brought a total of around 4.3 billion passengers to their destination.
Compared to 2022, passenger numbers at almost all major passenger airports have increased significantly again. The largest is in the USA (graphic):
With nearly 105 million passengers, Atlanta Airport was the busiest airport in the world in 2023.
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In second place, some way behind, is Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates with 87 million passengers.
In Germany, Frankfurt am Main has the highest passenger numbers – almost 60 million passengers were handled there in 2023. In a global comparison, however, this is only enough for 16th place.
In 2023, there were 4.3 billion air passengers worldwide – in the coming years, this number is expected to rise continuously and reach 6.5 billion by 2035.
Air traffic in this country has recovered only slowly from the pandemic: In 2023, the 23 main airports in Germany counted around 185 million passengers – only 19 percent more than in the previous year. Worldwide, however, the increase was more than 40 percent.
According to a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the number of passengers, at least in global air traffic, could return to the level of the years before Corona by the end of 2024 – and continue to rise steadily in the coming years (graphic):
By 2025, almost 4.7 billion passengers are expected to be transported by air – another 10 percent more than in 2023.
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By 2035, the IATA is expecting more than 6.5 billion passengers worldwide. Many airports are expanding their floor space accordingly in order to increase their capacity. For example, the operators of the up-and-coming Dubai International Airport are currently working on the expansion of new terminals, and the new Istanbul Airport, which only opened in 2018, is to be expanded by 2028 so that it can handle up to 200 million travelers annually.
Less kerosene, more sustainability
Another trend: In many countries, politicians and businesses are striving to make air travel more environmentally friendly – despite increasing passenger numbers.
The EU laid the foundation for this last year: it wants to reduce emissions from aviation by 85 percent by 2050, using Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). They are mainly obtained from renewable resources such as vegetable oils, algae or waste from agriculture and industry and are therefore more sustainable than fossil fuels. From 2025, aircraft in the EU are to be fueled with a minimum of 2 percent SAF, and by 2050 the share of sustainable fuels is to be more than 70 percent.
In addition, it is in the airlines’ own interest to operate aircraft that are as economical as possible. The kerosene they use represents a huge cost factor for them and airlines usually select new aircraft based on how much fuel they need.
According to Lufthansa, the legendary jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, still uses just under 4.3 liters of kerosene per 100 passenger kilometers, while the new Airbus A 350 makes do with about 2.5 liters.
