Wright Brothers First Flight (1903). On Jan. 1, 1914, one commercial passenger flew on one commercial flight. On Jan. 1, 2014, an estimated 8 million people flew on nearly 100,000 flights
On December 17 1903, news came through that two brothers had flown a curious air machine for more than a minute. The footage used in this film is actually from their flight in 1908.
Statistics from the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, show that some 3.1 billion people flew in 2013, surpassing the 3 billion mark for the first time ever. That figure is expected to grow to 3.3 billion by 2014 and represents about 44 percent of the world’s population.
But it’s not just people who fly. An estimated 50 million tons of cargo are transported each year, representing an annual value of some $6.4 trillion (or 35 percent of the value of goods traded internationally). Meanwhile, the aviation industry supports more than 57 million jobs and generates $2.2 trillion in economic activity. According to IATA, the industry’s direct economic contribution of around $540 billion would, if translated into the GDP ranking of countries, place the industry in 19th position. (Source)
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