Τhe International Air Transport Association has released its first 20-year passenger growth forecast, which projects that China will overtake the United States as the world’s largest passenger market (defined by traffic to, from and within) by 2034.
The report expects both markets to remain the largest by a wide margin. In 2034 flights to, from and within China will account for 1.3 billion passengers, 856 million more than 2014, with an average annual growth rate of 5.5%. Traffic to, from and within the US is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 3.2% that will see 1.2 billion passengers by 2034 (559 million more than 2014).
Analyses of the 10 largest air passenger markets for 2014-2034 revealed that the US will remain the largest air passenger market until around 2030, when it will drop to number two, behind China. Cumulatively, over the next 20 years, the US will carry 18.3 billion more passengers and China 16.9 billion.
Iata’s report also said passenger numbers were expected to reach 7.3 billion for 2034, representing 4.1% average annual growth in demand. 
By 2034 the five fastest-increasing markets in terms of additional passengers per year will be China (856 million new passengers per year), the US (559 million), India (266 million), Indonesia (183 million) and Brazil (170 million). 
Eight of the ten fastest-growing markets in percentage terms will be in Africa with the Central African Republic, Madagascar, Tanzania, Burundi and Kuwait making up the five fastest-growing markets. In terms of country pairs, Asian and South American destinations will see the fastest growth, reflecting economic and demographic growth in those markets. Intra-Pakistan, Kuwait-Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-Ethiopia, Colombia-Ecuador and intra-Honduras travel will all grow by at least 9.5% on average for the next 20 years, while Indonesia-East Timor will be the fastest growing pair of all, at 14.9%. 
"It is an exciting prospect to think that in the next 20 years more than twice as many passengers as today will have the chance to fly. Air connectivity on this scale will help transform economic opportunities for millions of people. At present, aviation helps sustain 58 million jobs and $2.4 trillion in economic activity. In 20 years’ time we can expect aviation to be supporting around 105 million jobs and $6 trillion in GDP," said Tony Tyler, Iata’s Director General and CEO.