By 2033, there will be 91 Aviation Mega Cities in the world, accounting for 2.2 million daily long-haul passengers traffic to, from and via these super hubs, said an official of aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
In a presentation on The Future by Airbus at the recently concluded Future of Borders International Conference in Dubai, Paul Moultrie, head of marketing at Airbus Middle East, said these Aviation Mega Cities will account for 95 per cent of long-haul traffic in the world, which by 2020 will have a total population of 9.3 billion.
This will be a major growth in 10 years considering there were only 42 Aviation Mega Cities in 2013, with 0.8 million daily long-haul traffic and 90 per cent of long haul traffic on routes to, from and via these cities. The economic contribution of Aviation Mega Cities will increase to 35 per cent of the world GDP in 2033, up from 22 per cent recorded in 2013. Airbus also unveiled its 2050 vision for Smarter Skies, where in it envisages more flights, fewer emissions and quicker passenger journey times.
Airbus research suggests that every flight in the world could on average be around 13 minutes shorter. This would save around 9 million tonnes of excess fuel annually. The Future by Airbus consists of five concepts which could be implemented across all the stages of an aircraft’s operation to reduce waste in the system.
Thanks to improvements in technology since the 1970s, aircraft fuel burn and emissions have been reduced by 70 per cent, with a reduction in noise of 75 per cent.
