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IATA projects air traffic demand to rise between 2.9% and 3.1% a year over next quarter century
March 18th 2026
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published new forecasts showing air travel demand is expected to reach between 19.5 trillion and 21.9 revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) by 2050, up from 9 trillion in 2024. Read More » The airline lobby group’s Long-Term Demand Projections (LTDP) report said RPKs were expected to reach 19.5 trillion under a lower growth scenario of a 2.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), 20.8 trillion under the mid-range scenario of 3.1% CAGR and 21.9 trillion under a higher growth scenario at 3.3% CAGR. "The outlook for air travel is positive," IATA director-general, Willie Walsh, said. "People want to travel and, under all our modelled scenarios, the demand to fly is expected to more than double by mid-century. That is good news for global economic and social development because aviation growth will catalyse opportunities, including jobs, around the world." The IATA report said Asia-Pacific and Africa were expected to be the fastest growing regions over the period between 2024 and 2050, with the mid-range CAGR for the pair projected to be 3.8% and 3.6%, respectively. "We expect Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East to be the main engines of growth," the report said. "Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America are expected to remain the world’s three largest markets in 2050 in terms of absolute RPK levels."
