TOKYO (Bloomberg) – China is set to overtake the US to become the world’s largest aviation market by passengers by 2024 as more people take to the skies domestically and internationally, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The number of people flying to, from and within China will almost double to 927 million annually by 2025 from 487 million last year, and reach 1.3 billion by 2035, according to forecasts from IATA made in an e-mailed statement. In comparison, passengers in the US will increase to 904 million by 2025, from 657 million last year, according to the predictions. Global passenger travel is predicted to surge, with most of that growth coming from the Asia-Pacific region as economies expand and more people can afford to fly. India is set to surpass the UK as the world’s third-largest aviation market by 2025, according to IATA, with 263 million passengers compared with 256 million, it said in an e-mail.