India recorded the "fastest" domestic air passenger growth across the globe last year. Airlines across the world carried about 3.6 billion passengers and 52.2 million tonnes of cargo, which was worth $6 trillion last year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
India's domestic air passenger growth stood at 18.8 percent, which was far ahead other countries like China and the United States. China witnessed 9.7 percent growth in the aviation market, while the U.S. recorded growth at 5.4 percent.
"With annual growth of 18.8 percent (in a market of 80 million domestic passengers), India's performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9 percent growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers), China (9.7 percent growth, in a market of 394 million domestic passengers) and the United States (5.4 percent growth, in a market of 708 million domestic passengers)," IATA said.
According to the association, airlines carried the largest number of passengers in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Last year we supported $2.7 trillion in economic activity and 63 million jobs," Tony Tyler, IATA's Director General and CEO, said.
Region-wise ranking
On the basis of regional ranks, the Asia Pacific had 34 percent market share, followed by Europe's 26.2 percent, North America's 24.8 percent market share, Latin America's 7.5 percent, Middle East's 5.3 percent and Africa's lowest market share at 2.2 percent.
On the basis of the total scheduled passengers carried, the top five airlines in the world were American Airlines (146.5 million), Southwest Airlines (144.6 million), Delta Air Lines (138.8 million), China Southern Airlines (109.3 million) and Ryan Air (101.4 million), IATA added.
