FAA: Passenger demand to jump 75%, air cargo to nearly triple by 2030

FAA’s 20-year forecast for aviation demand is out. Some highlights:

• Total passengers on U.S. airlines domestically and internationally are forecast to increase from 704 million in 2009 to 1.21 billion by 2030, a cumulative rise of 75%.
• Domestic passenger enplanements will increase by 0.5 percent in 2010 and then grow an average of 2.5 percent per year during the remaining forecast period.
• U.S. airlines will reach one billion passengers a year by 2023.
• Total air cargo Registered Ton Miles (freight/express and mail) increase from 30.8 billion in 2009 to 86.6 billion in 2030 – up an average of 5.0 percent a year, for a cumulative rise of 281%.
• Total operations at airports are forecast to decrease 2.7 percent to 51.5 million in 2010, and then grow at an average annual rate of 1.5 percent reaching 69.6 million in 2030.
• At the nation’s 35 busiest airports, operations are expected to increase 60 percent from 2010 to 2030.