Air transport supported 42 million jobs across the Asia-Pacific region in 2023, equivalent to one in every 45 jobs. The region is projected to maintain a rapid growth trajectory of 5.6% annually over the next 20 years, making it the fastest-growing region in the world. This growth is propelled by e-commerce, tourism and an increase in the propensity to travel, particularly in developing countries.
The aviation sector supports 2.2% of total employment in Asian-Pacific countries, directly employing 4.3 million people, more than any other region in the world. This number is forecast to grow over the next two decades to 6.1 million by 2043. In addition, jobs in the supply chain and from tourism will also boost air transport contribution in the region. Last year, 11.4 million flights departed from airports in Asia-Pacific, transporting 1.4 billion passengers and 20.5 million tonnes of cargo. The region has 316 airlines that operate within a network of 1,187 commercial airports, linked by 35 air navigation service providers.
These findings are part of the report Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders, which has been produced by the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) along with its member organisations and builds on extensive research by Oxford Economics. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the aviation sector’s economic and social impact and its role in connecting a globalised world.
Haldane Dodd, Executive Director ATAG, said: “The aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific region has experienced a remarkable development and air transport plays a vital role in facilitating a substantial amount of tourism, economic growth and prosperity, particularly in developing countries within the region. It is not surprising that the greatest increase in propensity to travel in the next two decades will be in the developing and emerging economies of Asia-Pacific, especially Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, and Thailand, which are all seeing growth rates between 5% and 6% per year. In addition, this growth has been driven in part by increased traffic on some of the so-called south-south routes, which are growing at a much higher rate than the global average. The last decade has seen substantially more traffic between China and African countries, for example.”
Another key factor driving this growth is the rapid expansion of e-commerce since the Covid-19 pandemic, with approximately 80% of cross-border e-commerce globally now transported by air. In 2022 alone, e-commerce sales in China surged by 55.6%, and by 2040 it is projected that 95% of all global purchases will be made online—offering significant growth opportunities for the region.
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