
in % of IATA Scheduled Passengers.
Source: IATA, World Air Transport
Statistics.
Major Air Traffic Flows Between Regions, 2000
The great majority (74.6%) of air traffic flows (1.4 billion passengers)
occurs within three regions, North America (35.5%), Europe (23.2%) and
Asia (15.9%). Air traffic thus dominantly takes place on east-west axis
over the Northern Hemisphere with other continents, such as South America,
Africa and the pacific Southwest accounting for a residual function
of feeders. The most important intercontinental routes link the most
economically active regions of the world and include Europe - North
America (3.9%), Europe - Asia (1.9%) and Asia - North America (1.7%).
All these routes have a balanced passengers traffic as almost the same
amount of passengers goes in one direction than the other. The main
international routes are:
- North Atlantic route. Represents the most intensively used air
route in the world. It accounts for 27% of the tons-km transported
while the inside of the United States justifies 12% of the international
traffic.
- Intra-Europe. Handles 9% of the international traffic,
but because of geographical considerations, most international movements
in Europe have a regional scale. For instance, although a flight
between Paris and London is considered as international, it is barely
longer than a Boston-New York regional air shuttle service which
is counted as a national flight.
- Trans-Pacific route. Very important with 14% of the global
traffic. The strong growth rates of the regional economy have induced
a strong growth of air traffic. It is notably the case for the traffic
that origins from Japan, event linked with the relocation of the
Japanese economy within the Pacific-Asian space. Although the 1997-98
financial and economic crisis in Pacific Asia involved a negative
impact on regional air traffic, the region has since then recovered
and expanded.
- Intra-Asia. Accounts for 9% of the global traffic, a
share which will grow during the next decades. For instance, domestic
air services in China represent an enormous potential market with
the emergence of regional airline companies.
- The remaining international lines are Europe towards the Middle
East (5%) and of Europe towards the Far East (10%).