More than four billion passengers were carried on global commercial airlines in 2017.
The International Air Transport Association’s World Air Transport Statistics annual industry performance monitor highlighted a 7.8% increase equating to an additional 280 million trips compared to 2016.
There was a record 20,000 city pairs operated in 2017, which is double compared to two decades ago.
"Worldwide annual air passenger numbers exceeded four billion for the first time. It is supported by a broad-based improvement in global economic conditions and lower average airfares, IATA said.
"Such increases in direct services improve the industry’s efficiency by cutting costs and saving time for both travelers and shippers alike."
Four of the top five airlines by total scheduled passenger kilometers were American.
American, Delta and United all flew more than 300 million passengers each, followed by Dubai-based Emirates and Southwest Airlines.
Asia-Pacific has the largest regional share at more than one-third of the global total, ahead of Europe and North America.
