IdeaWorksCompany releases the 5th edition of The Big Book of Airline Data, showcasing significant global airline traffic and revenue growth with detailed regional and alliance comparisons for 2023.
SHOREWOOD, WISCONSIN – IdeaWorksCompany, a foremost consultant on ancillary revenue, frequent flyer programs, and airline retail, has released the 5th edition of its annual data compendium: The Big Book of Airline Data by IdeaWorksCompany.
The new edition provides a world of data for individual airlines, regional compilations, airline alliances, employment data, and frequent flyer membership totals. The collection of data allows for interesting comparisons; here is a summary of global results for 2023:
- Asia & Pacific airlines experienced the year-over-year traffic growth of 116.2%; the region also has the largest share of global traffic at 32.1%.
- Canada and US airlines remain the world’s largest revenue producers with a 29.4% share of global airline revenue. However, Asia & Pacific had the highest year-over-year growth of airline revenue at 80.9%.
The airline industry continued its march out of the pandemic with record-breakingresult s during 2023 as evidenced by these annual airline traffic and revenue estimates from IdeaWorksCompany:
The Big Book is filled with statistics from all over the wide world of travel; here are a few examples from 2023:
- Latin America airlines had the lowest level of airline traffic growth at 16.9% compared to 2022, with 8% of global traffic.
- Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliances generated estimated revenue of $525 billion, which represents a dramatic increase of 27% from 2022. Star is the largest revenue producer with $216.3 billion. These alliances generate almost 60% of total global airline revenue.
- Ryanair Group is the largest low cost carrier with more than 183.7 million passengers, with more than 4 out of every 100 passengers choosing the airline. Indigo is a distant 2nd with 106.4 million passengers.
- Low cost carriers carried 29.8% of global traffic, but their low fares only generated 17.3% of global revenue.
- American Airlines was the largest employer among the 120 airlines which disclose total employment. The carrier ended 2023 with 132,100 employees.
- Global airline employment is estimated by IdeaWorksCompany to be nearly 2.3 billion people.
- Delta SkyMiles is likely the world’s largest frequent flyer program with 130 million members, based upon the 56 airlines found to disclose program membership.
- US major airlines had total revenue of $264 per passenger; traditional airlines, $253; and low cost carriers, $126 (total airline revenue includes passenger fares, ancillary revenue, and other sources, such as cargo).
- The global airline industry, just 4 years from the pandemic, is poised to break $1 trillion in revenue for 2024.
The Big Book relies upon a number of sources and methods to determine the results for each company. Most often this consists of financial documents at company websites, while for others the sources include press releases, and industry articles. The Big Book of Airline Data is released on an annual basis.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
