Aviation industry

Use our industry guide to find key background information, market research, import and export guidelines, statistics, legislation, trade bodies and trade publications.

The Business & Industry Guides series is produced by the Library & Information Service for ICAEW members and ACA students.

We can compile tailored key players reports, mailing lists, market reports, benchmarking reports and industry news. Our enquiry team can also research other industry-specific information, such as taxation, for you. Call us on +44 (0)20 7920 8620 or email library@icaew.com.

Trends and forecasts

Airlines: Riding the recovery
Annual publication from KPMG providing insights into the commercial aviation industry through a series of in-depth interviews with major aviation leaders on the challenges facing the sector. Areas discussed include the recovery of the industry after the global pandemic and war in Europe, aviation finance, leasing and ESG. Published in January 2023.

Aviation Outlook 2050
Report by Eurocontrol providing forecasts for flights in Europe to 2050 based on three different scenarios for economic growth. Also includes estimates of net CO2 emissions with insights into how aviation can move towards the target of net-zero by 2050. Published in April 2022.

Aviation Industry Outlook 2022
Annual publication from PwC Strategy& looking at major trends, challenges and opportunities for commercial airline carriers globally.

Market research

Other market research specialists

Some free information is available from the following market research specialists, ranging from industry news to executive summaries of the reports.

Euromonitor
A full listing of reference products and research reports for the travel sector from Euromonitor, with a range of major market profiles country reports on airlines and global air transportation. Each report provides a contents listing and a useful executive summary reporting on the key trends in each country report.

IBISWorld
Busines and industry research specialists offering reports on a wide range of sectors, including passenger flights and freight air transport. Report snapshots, table of contents and a sample report are available. The company also produces global industry research reports.

Mintel
Report from Mintel covering the UK airlines market. The website includes a summary and the option to view a contents listing.

Industry news

The Library can carry out industry news searches for ICAEW members and ACA students.

Statistics on the UK

Aerospace Defence Security (ADS)

ADS publishes an annual UK Aerospace Outlook, which gives key trends, turnover, order intake, employment, research and development, international trade, regional trends and information on the UK aerospace industry's global presence.

Centre for the study of Regulated Industries (CRI)

The Centre for the study of Regulated Industries published UK Airports Industry: Airport Statistics annually until its closure as an active research centre in 2010. The latest and previous editions of this report are available to download for free on its statistical series page.

Civil Aviation Authority

The Civil Aviation Authority collects and disseminates statistics and market information about the UK aviation industry including:

Department for Transport

The Department for Transport is a leading source of transport data and publishes a series of aviation statistics, covering:

activity at UK airports, including number of flights, passengers and volume of freight handled
activity by UK airlines, including distance flown, passengers uplifted, seat occupancy, fleet size and employment
summary statistics for major international airports and airlines
casualties caused by aviation and air proximity incidents
public attitudes to aviation and airport expansion
passenger experience of air travel, including security screening.

Office for National Statistics

The Annual Business Survey (ABS) from the Office for National Statistics collects financial information covering UK production, construction, distribution and service industries. Statistics available include:

number of enterprises;
total turnover;
approximate gross value added at basic prices;
total purchases of goods, materials and services;
total employment costs;
total net capital expenditure;
total net capital expenditure – acquisitions;
total net capital expenditure – disposals;
total stocks and work in progress – value at end of year;
total stocks and work in progress – value at beginning of year;
total stocks and work in progress – increase during year.

The dataset Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S includes statistics for:

Manufacturing of air and spacecraft and related machinery (30.3)
See Section C: Manufacturing
Air transport (51)
See Section H: Transport and storage

Statistics on Europe

Eurostat

Eurostat, the EU statistics hub, collates detailed Structural Business Statistics giving the latest figures for industry, construction, trade and services by sector and country. The indicators available include:

number of enterprises
turnover or gross premiums written
production value
value added at factor cost
gross operating surplus
wages and salaries
social security costs
gross investment in tangible goods
gross investment in land
gross investment in existing buildings and structures
gross investment in construction and alteration of buildings
gross investment in machinery and equipment
number of employees
number of persons employed per enterprise.

Statistics within the database are available for:

Manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery (C303)
See database section ‘SBS – industry and construction’
Air transport (H51)
See database section ‘SBS – services’

Eurostat also compiles a range of data on air transport in the EU, including statistics on infrastructure, equipment, enterprises, economic performance, employment and measurement.

Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe)

ACI Europe provides a range of industry data

Statistics on the Americas

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (US)

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) provides general aviation information and statistics, including data on:

FAA certificated pilots by state and certificate type
Public- and private-use airports by state
Active general aviation aircraft by state
General aviation aircraft shipments and registrations
General aviation trends
General aviation safety record
Current accident statistics graphs.

Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman's Airline Economic Analysis 2016-2017 provides economic and performance data for the US aviation industry as well as global capacity growth by region. The report includes:

Revenue per available seat mile (RASM)
Passenger yield
Ancillary revenue
Stage-length adjusted revenue per available seat
Cost per available seat mile (CASM)
Labor cost
Jet fuel costs and labor costs
Profit margin data
Break-even load factors
US carrier capacity analysis

Statistics on Asia

ASEAN

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, produces an annual Statistical Yearbook which includes a chapter on transport and communication. Figures by country cover:

number of domestic airports
domestic passenger traffic
domestic freight traffic
number of aircraft traffic
number of international airports
international passenger traffic
cargo loaded
cargo unloaded
aircraft departures
aircraft arrivals.

Statistics on the Middle East

Arab Air Carriers Organization

The Arab Air Carriers Organization (AACO) provides general statistics on domestic and international freight and passenger traffic.

Global statistics

IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) compiles a comprehensive range of industry facts and figures

INDSTAT

The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) collects and compiles industrial statistics known as INDSTAT, which give information on:

number of employees
number of establishments
output
value added
total wages and salaries.

Statistics by country are available for:

Aircraft and spacecraft (3530)

UN Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade)

The UN compiles and publishes international import and export statistics in the Commodity Trade Statistics Database (Comtrade), giving figures for goods traded by value, quantity and weight for each country.

Statistics are available for:

Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof (88)

UN Industrial Commodity Statistics Database

The UN provides statistics on the quantity of goods produced by country in the Industrial Commodity Statistics Database.

Figures are available for:

Aeroplanes and other aircraft (49)

Employment

UK

The annual Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), published by the Office for National Statistics, includes total employee and employment estimates for different industries for Great Britain and the UK. Figures are broken down to show full-time/part-time and public/private splits. The dataset Industry – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2 includes statistics for:

Manufacturing of air and spacecraft and related machinery (303)
Passenger air transport (511)
Freight air transport and space transport (512)

The Office for National Statistics publication Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) includes average employment costs within this sector which can be found in Table 14. Average employment costs are provided for full-time employees, part-time employees and all employees.

The data includes average employment costs for:

air traffic controllers;
aircraft pilots and flight engineers;
air transport operatives; and
air travel assistants.

Other regions

Please see individual country profile pages for links to sources of national statistics.

Legislation and regulation

UK

Gov.uk offers guidance and information on transport regulations and safety, including:

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a section on health and safety in air transport which includes latest regulations affecting this industry.

The Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) 2018 Committee report Brexit and the implications for UK business: Aerospace inquiry contains a chapter on regulatory alignment.

Law firm Faegre Drinker published an article Regulatory Implications of Brexit on the UK and EU Aerospace Industry in April 2021.

Import and export

Trade Tariff

The Trade Tariff is a useful Gov.uk database listing tax, duties and licenses for the import and export of goods between the UK and other countries. The database is searchable by product or commodity code and results can be filtered by date and country. Information also includes links to relevant conditions and regulations.

See import and export information for:

aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof.

UK key players, ratios and trends

A range of reports on this sector are available to ICAEW members and ACA students via the Library.

UK benchmarking

The Library can supply benchmarking reports to ICAEW members and ACA students.

Trade bodies

The websites of trade bodies in this sector are a useful source of industry overviews, contacts and statistics.

UK

Europe

Africa

Asia

Middle East

North America

Air Line Pilots Association (US and Canada)
Airlines for America (formerly known as Air Transport Association of America)
Canadian Business Aviation Association
Cargo Airline Association
National Business Aviation Association (US)

Oceania

Global

Trade journals and publications

Trade journals, B2B magazines and specialist consumer magazines are another useful source of news and statistics.

Air Cargo World
Airfinance Journal
Airport Business
Airports International
Airport World
Air Transport World
Aviation Today
Flightglobal
Flyer
AOPA UK Magazine
Jane's (publisher of various guides, directories and reports on the aerospace industry)
Journal of Commerce
Pilot