Economics & Energy

Annual Traffic and Ops: World Airlines

The data below reflects the systemwide scheduled activity of passenger and cargo airlines operating worldwide, as recorded by ICAO. Domestic operations within the former USSR are excluded from operational data prior to 1970.

YEAR Flight Operations Passenger Traffic Cargo Traffic
RAKs
(mils)		 Depts.
(000)		 Hours
(000)		 Psgrs.
(000)		 RPKs
(mils)		 ASKs
(mils)		 PLF
(mils)		 Tons*
(000)		 FTKs
(mils)		 MTKs
(mils)		 RTKs
(mils)
1929 90 n/a n/a 170 n/a n/a
1930 120 n/a n/a 270 n/a n/a
1931 135 n/a n/a 330 n/a n/a
1932 140 n/a n/a 405 n/a n/a
1933 155 n/a n/a 545 n/a n/a
1934 160 n/a n/a 650 n/a n/a
1935 200 n/a n/a 920 n/a n/a
1936 230 n/a n/a 1,225 n/a n/a
1937 265 n/a n/a 1,410 n/a n/a
1938 300 n/a n/a 1,685 n/a n/a
1939 295 n/a n/a 2,030 n/a n/a
1940 300 n/a n/a 2,530 n/a n/a
1941 340 n/a n/a 3,280 n/a n/a
1942 320 n/a n/a 3,580 n/a n/a
1943 325 n/a n/a 4,265 n/a n/a
1944 415 n/a n/a 5,490 n/a n/a
1945 600 n/a 2,500 9,000 8,000 n/a n/a 110 130 240
1946 940 n/a 3,800 18,000 16,000 n/a n/a 120 100 220
1947 1,140 n/a 4,200 21,000 19,000 n/a n/a 270 130 400
1948 1,270 n/a 4,600 24,000 21,000 n/a n/a 420 170 590
1949 1,350 n/a 4,800 27,000 24,000 n/a n/a 570 190 760
1950 1,440 n/a 5,000 31,000 28,000 46,000 60.9 n/a 730 200 930
1951 1,620 n/a 5,700 42,000 35,000 55,000 63.6 n/a 870 230 1,100
1952 1,780 n/a 6,100 46,000 40,000 64,000 62.5 n/a 940 260 1,200
1953 1,950 n/a 6,500 53,000 47,000 75,000 62.7 n/a 990 280 1,270
1954 2,060 n/a 6,700 59,000 52,000 86,000 60.5 n/a 1,040 330 1,370
1955 2,290 n/a 7,300 68,000 61,000 99,000 61.6 n/a 1,240 370 1,610
1956 2,540 n/a 8,000 77,000 71,000 114,000 62.3 n/a 1,400 400 1,800
1957 2,840 n/a 8,700 86,000 82,000 133,000 61.7 n/a 1,530 430 1,960
1958 2,930 n/a 8,800 88,000 85,000 146,000 58.2 n/a 1,570 470 2,040
1959 3,090 n/a 9,000 98,000 98,000 162,000 60.5 n/a 1,830 520 2,350
1960 3,110 6,600 8,600 106,000 109,000 184,000 59.2 n/a 2,040 610 2,650
1961 3,120 6,600 8,000 111,000 117,000 212,000 55.2 n/a 2,360 720 3,080
1962 3,240 6,600 7,800 121,000 130,000 243,000 53.5 n/a 2,770 810 3,580
1963 3,430 6,700 7,900 135,000 147,000 274,000 53.6 n/a 3,110 860 3,970
1964 3,700 7,100 8,200 155,000 171,000 306,000 55.9 n/a 3,760 910 4,670
1965 4,100 7,500 8,700 177,000 198,000 354,000 55.9 n/a 4,800 1,100 5,900
1966 4,480 7,800 9,300 200,000 229,000 397,000 57.7 n/a 5,700 1,530 7,230
1967 5,280 8,600 10,200 233,000 273,000 479,000 57.0 n/a 6,530 1,890 8,420
1968 5,993 9,074 10,992 260,277 309,422 578,885 53.5 n/a 8,153 2,350 10,503
1969 6,704 9,473 11,761 293,230 350,899 674,973 52.0 3,970 9,769 2,517 12,286
1970 7,004 9,486 12,036 382,954 460,481 839,930 54.8 6,083 12,018 3,069 15,087
1971 7,054 9,546 12,016 410,919 494,137 914,070 54.1 6,673 13,225 2,900 16,125
1972 7,209 9,646 12,192 450,136 560,078 980,766 57.1 7,284 15,022 2,779 17,801
1973 7,520 9,889 12,716 488,514 618,184 1,072,599 57.6 8,223 17,530 2,878 20,408
1974 7,375 9,613 12,471 514,496 656,426 1,107,532 59.3 8,651 19,016 2,884 21,900
1975 7,516 9,683 12,580 534,024 697,285 1,178,880 59.1 8,680 19,371 2,899 22,270
1976 7,840 9,986 13,028 576,421 763,762 1,269,815 60.1 9,336 21,541 3,030 24,571
1977 8,089 10,118 13,345 610,322 818,300 1,346,260 60.8 10,046 23,630 3,175 26,805
1978 8,498 10,379 13,985 678,645 936,352 1,451,184 64.5 10,625 25,939 3,266 29,205
1979 9,147 10,666 14,887 754,117 1,060,236 1,607,188 66.0 10,996 28,011 3,425 31,436
1980 9,350 10,691 15,112 748,288 1,089,128 1,723,903 63.2 11,089 29,376 3,681 33,057
1981 9,113 10,250 14,749 752,271 1,119,066 1,756,539 63.7 10,915 30,881 3,794 34,675
1982 9,140 10,379 14,796 765,806 1,142,193 1,794,646 63.6 11,568 31,538 3,875 35,413
1983 9,395 10,820 15,360 797,810 1,189,767 1,852,088 64.2 12,257 35,109 4,003 39,112
1984 10,102 11,453 16,492 847,931 1,278,176 1,972,296 64.8 13,416 39,667 4,311 43,978
1985 10,598 11,952 17,223 899,218 1,367,347 2,081,018 65.7 13,742 39,837 4,399 44,236
1986 11,491 12,698 18,646 960,012 1,452,055 2,234,730 65.0 14,687 43,190 4,545 47,735
1987 12,266 13,306 19,902 1,027,856 1,589,467 2,367,532 67.1 16,058 48,320 4,701 53,021
1988 13,017 13,942 21,269 1,082,474 1,705,432 2,524,094 67.6 17,215 53,265 4,834 58,099
1989 13,493 13,945 22,815 1,109,478 1,773,703 2,608,046 68.0 18,088 57,145 5,057 62,202
1990 14.371 14,661 23,389 1,165,156 1,894,245 2,800,844 67.6 18,423 58,796 5,325 64,121
1991 14,262 14,269 23,316 1,135,185 1,845,418 2,779,494 66.4 17,465 58,556 5,074 63,630
1992 15,690 14,819 24,851 1,145,553 1,928,922 2,930,185 65.8 17,647 62,636 5,125 67,761
1993 17,118 15,777 27,322 1,142,382 1,949,421 3,013,411 64.7 18,053 68,446 5,225 73,671
1994 18,249 17,038 29,161 1,233,341 2,099,936 3,169,342 66.3 20,522 77,215 5,411 82,626
1995 19,470 17,816 30,868 1,303,645 2,248,215 3,358,601 66.9 22,189 83,132 5,633 88,765
1996 20,601 18,758 32,836 1,391,085 2,431,695 3,563,774 68.2 23,234 89,199 5,797 94,996
1997 21,630 19,320 34,350 1,456,690 2,573,010 3,727,900 69.0 26,360 102,880 5,990 108,870
1998 22,438 19,686 35,559 1,471,470 2,628,116 3,837,725 68.5 26,496 101,818 5,757 107,575
1999 23,742 20,739 37,683 1,562,324 2,797,803 4,050,783 69.1 28,103 108,655 5,718 114,373
2000 25,517 21,961 40,689 1,672,293 3,037,533 4,286,203 70.9 30,370 118,080 6,050 124,130
2001 25,612 22,134 40,777 1,640,277 2,949,553 4,271,858 69.0 28,829 110,798 5,305 116,103
2002 25,418 21,705 40,099 1,638,567 2,964,531 4,167,106 71.1 31,420 119,842 4,570 124,412
2003 26,264 22,093 41,196 1,691,233 3,019,104 4,227,863 71.4 33,522 125,764 4,527 130,291
2004 29,163 23,754 45,441 1,888,403 3,445,324 4,704,729 73.2 36,661 139,037 4,576 143,613
2005 30,862 24,911 48,044 2,021,802 3,721,692 4,975,913 74.8 37,638 142,518 4,660 147,178
2006 32,137 25,529 50,463 2,128,212 3,938,770 5,197,253 75.8 39,476 151,230 4,530 154,189
2007 33,830 26,505 53,095 2,257,078 4,201,137 5,484,865 77.0 39,826 158,392 4,533 158,392

*Freight only; mail not included in tonnage.

Acronyms:
RAKs – Revenue Aircraft Kilometers
RPKs – Revenue Passenger Kilometers
ASKs – Available Seat Kilometers
PLF – Passenger Load Factor
FTKs – Freight Ton Kilometers
MTKs – Mail Ton Kilometers
RTKs – (Cargo) Revenue Ton Kilometers
n/a – not available

Traffic statistics reflect the following "Freedoms of the Air," where applicable:

  1. Right to fly across another country’s territory without landing
  2. Right to land in another country’s territory for non-traffic purposes
  3. Right to carry (and drop off) traffic to another country
  4. Right to pick up traffic in another country and take it to the home country of the carrier
  5. Right to pick up traffic in another country and take it to a third country
  6. Right to transport traffic between two countries with an intermediate stop in the home country
  7. Right to transport traffic between two countries without touching the home country

Last Modified: 10/12/2008

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