The Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) has this week released its ‘Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders’ report for 2014, which outlines the global social and economic impact of the aviation industry.
The report, which covers manufacturers, as well as airlines, airport operators & air navigation providers, also highlights some great statistics on the strength of the industry:
- $2.4trillion – aviation’s global economic impact.
- 3.4% of global GDP is supported by Aviation – and if it were a country, aviation would rank 21st in size by GDP.
- Currently 1.2 million people are employed in Aerospace manufacturing around the world.
- 25,000 aircraft are in active operation – 20,000 jets and 5,000 turboprops.
- Since the first jet aircraft was produced – CO2 emissions per seat km have reduced by 75% and perceived aircraft noise has reduced by 70%.
- Civil Aerospace spends $20bn globally on R&D – of which 70% is for fuel reduction technology.
As it is also 100 years since the first commercial flight, the report highlights how the industry has developed since 1914, and the strength of future growth.
- 1 passenger flew on the first commercial flight on January 1st 1914 – on the same day 100 years later, 8.5 million passengers took a flight.
- The distance of the first commercial aircraft flight was 30km – now, the aerospace industry has developed modern aircraft capable of flying up to 15,000km, nonstop.
- Since 1914, over 65 billion passengers have flown – the next 65bn are expected by 2032.
With ADS releasing figures today showing that global commercial aircraft deliveries achieved a record in Q1 2014, alongside a growing backlog of now 11,318 aircraft – the Aerospace manufacturing industry is responding successfully to this growth.
Aviation’s global impact is only set to expand as the demand for air travel increases. With the strength of investment in R&D and innovation, aviation I the future will benefit from aircraft that are set to be more fuel efficient, make less noise and travel further than ever before.
