World Air Travel Demand, 1950-1980

Total world scheduled air passenger traffic carried by the airlines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), excluding the U.S.S.R., increased from 17.4 billion passenger miles in 1950 to 237.4 billion in 1970. This represents an average annual growth rate of 14% during the past two decades. The U.S.S.R. became a member of ICAO in 1970, and Aeroflot - the only Russian airline - reported 49 billion passenger miles for 1970. This traffic, which encompasses both domestic and international travel as well as some nonscheduled flights, is not included in the ICAO world totals shown in this report.