Air passenger numbers to top five billion in 2025: IATA

Geneva: Air passenger numbers are forecast to top five billion for the first time next year and the sector s revenues will break the trillion dollar b...

Geneva: Air passenger numbers are forecast to top five billion for the first time next year and the sector's revenues will break the trillion-dollar barrier, the global aviation body IATA said Tuesday.

"Passenger numbers are expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, a 6.7 percent rise compared to 2024 and the first time that the number of passengers has exceeded the five billion mark," the International Air Transport Association said in a statement.

Total industry revenues are meanwhile forecast at $1.007 trillion, helped by falling oil and fuel prices, "the first time that industry revenues top the $1 trillion mark," it added.

Revenues will be up 4.4 percent from 2024, it said.

"All of this gives us a financial performance which I think is absolutely worth popping the champagne" after a post-pandemic bounce-back, IATA chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen told a news conference in Geneva.