FAA sees air cargo sales rising, travel doubling by 2031

US cargo and passenger traffic posted operating profits of US$9.5 billion in 2010, up from $849.8 million in 2009 - a 10 fold increase - with sales only rising seven per cent in the same period, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).


The FAA's Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years 2011-2031 says that air cargo revenue ton miles (RTM) (freight/express and mail) will climb by an average of 4.7 per cent annually from 35.9 billion in 2010 to 93.2 billion in 2031 with domestic RTM rising 2.8 per cent annually and international RTM increasing 5.5 per cent a year.


The cargo fleet is expected to expand from 806 aircraft in 2010 to 1,251 aircraft in 2031, representing an average increase of 2.1 per cent annually, reports AvStop Aviation News.


The FAA anticipates air travel will more than double in the next two decades years and that US airlines will be move one billion passengers annually by 2021, two years earlier than last year's prediction of 2023.


The FAA also predicts that revenue passenger miles (RPM) will more than double over the next two decades, from 787 billion in 2010 to 1.7 trillion in 2031. In the near term, FAA expects predicts the number of passengers travelling on US airlines will rise by 3.5 per cent from last year to 737.4 million passengers in 2011.


That figure is projected to grow an average of 2.8 per cent each year during the remaining forecast period to 1.3 billion by 2031, the report said.


The commercial aviation fleet is expected to grow from 224,172 aircraft in 2010 to 270,920 in 2031, up by an average of 0.9 per cent a year.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)