The Big Issue: Mind-boggling dimensions of modern-day flight

Airline Industry Facts and Figures

The bare facts of the airline industry are staggering. According to the International Air Transport Association, airlines carried a record 3.7 billion passengers in 2016, a rise of 6.3 per cent over the previous year.

Almost 10 million employees work directly in the aviation industry. Taking into account those who prepare in-flight meals, work for sub-contractors manufacturing aircraft components, staff airport retail shops and all the other jobs associated with the industry, that figure balloons to nearly 63 million jobs.

On average, fuel accounts for a third of an airline's operating costs. In 2001 that figure was 13 per cent, which is the reason the industry is now focused on fuel efficiency. Modern, fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Bombardier CSeries use less than three litres of jet fuel per 100 passenger-kilometres. This matches the fuel consumption of most modern compact cars. In terms of the number of passengers transported, most commercial aircraft flying today burn 80 per cent less fuel per kilometre than in the 1960s.

Aviation is responsible for 12 per cent of all CO² emissions from all transport sources while road transport accounts for 74 per cent.

If the aviation industry was a country, it would rank 21st in the world in terms of gross domestic product, generating US$664 billion a year, about the same as Switzerland's GDP. In 1945, it took 130 weeks for someone earning the average adult Australian wage to pay for the cheapest Sydney to London return airfare. In 2017, it takes less than one week.