Abstract
The air transport industry is full of paradoxes. On the one hand, air transport contributes 10% of the world GDP The gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI) is a basic measure of a country’s overall economic output. and employs approximately 80 million people worldwide. Yet, over the decade 1999–2009 the industry lost $56 billion. Given that over that period there were 20 billion passengers carried by air, the industry lost $2.8 per passenger on average. The paradox is that despite, this long history of loss, Airbus Industrie forecasts that between 2009 and 2028 there will be a demand for 24,951 passenger and freighter aircraft worth USD 3.1 trillion, and that, by 2028 there will be 32,000 aircraft in service compared with 15,750 in 2009. A Flying Smart, Thinking Big, Airbus Industrie’s Global Market Forecast, 2009–2028, at 8–9.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI) is a basic measure of a country’s overall economic output.
- 2.
A Flying Smart, Thinking Big, Airbus Industrie’s Global Market Forecast, 2009–2028, at 8–9.
- 3.
Id., at 16.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
- 6.
Bisignani (2006).
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Oxford Economics (2009).
- 9.
ICAO has estimated that the direct contribution of civil aviation, in terms of the consolidated output of air carriers, other commercial operators and their affiliates, was U.S. $370 billion. Direct employment on site at airports and by air navigation services providers generated 1.9 million jobs while production by aerospace and other manufacturing industries employed another 1.8 million people. Overall, the aviation industry directly employed no less than 6 million persons in 1998. These direct economic activities have multiplier effects upon industries providing either aviation-specific and other inputs or consumer products. In simple terms, every U.S. $100 of output produced and every 100 jobs created by air transport trigger additional demand of U.S. $325 and in turn 610 jobs in other industries. The total economic contribution of air transport, consisting of the direct economic activities and the multiplier effects, is estimated at U.S. $1,360 billion output and 27.7 million jobs worldwide. See ICAO Circular (2004). Also The Economic Benefits of Air Transport, 2000 Edition, ATAG:IATA, at 7. Also, ICAO Circular 219, Id., at 4.
- 10.
The Richter scale is the best known scale for measuring the magnitude of earthquakes. The magnitude value is proportional to the logarithm of the amplitude of the strongest wave during an earthquake. A recording of 7, for example, indicates a disturbance with ground motion 10 times as large as a recording of 6. The energy released by an earthquake increases by a factor of 30 for every unit increase in the Richter scale. See http://www.matter.org.uk/schools/content/seismology/richterscale.html.
- 11.
CBS News (2010).
- 12.
Haiti Quake Death toll may hit 200,000-Minister, Reuters Alertnet (Reuters). http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15143632.htm. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
- 13.
Initially, relief flights from around the world were delayed as a two-tier system was put in place to make sure that the most urgently needed supplies and personnel were getting in first, and the rest followed using a pre-arranged arrival and take-off schedule. Once a ground control team from the Air Force’s first Special Operations Wing began landing aircraft on January 13, a team from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Haitian authorities began working to restore navigation and communication capabilities. A team of U.S. military and civilian aviation experts working with Haitian officials began sorting flights, allowing some to land immediately based on what was needed most.
References
Bisignani G (2006) Think again airlines. Available at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2006/01/04/think_again_airlines?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full, January 2006
Oxford Economics (2009) Aviation, the real world wide web. Available at http://www.oxfordeconomics.com/free/pdfs/ox_econ_aviation_report/main.html, June 2009
ICAO Circular (2004) The economic contribution of civil aviation 219:1
CBS News (2010) 13 January 2010. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/13/world/main6090601.shtml?tag=cbsnewsSectionContent.4. Retrieved 13 January 2010
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Abeyratne, R. (2012). Conclusion. In: Strategic Issues in Air Transport. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21960-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21960-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21959-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21960-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawLaw and Criminology (R0)