The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is expecting 7.8 billion passengers to travel in 2036, nearly double the number in 2017. The biggest spike comes from the Asia Pacific region, which saw the highest air traffic growth of 9.6% last year, underscoring the tremendous growth of economies there.

NATS was recently awarded a contract to work with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) on air traffic management, specifically looking at airport expansion plans, high intensity operations and third runway activity.

So we thought it a good and timely opportunity to share a data visualisation we had made for the Asia Pacific region, offering some insight into just how busy the skies of the region are on any given day.

The Asia Pacific region has the potential to lead the world in air traffic management as a centre of excellence. The region provides many opportunities, but the only way these can be realised is by collaboration – ATM providers, Airlines, Regulators and the different States themselves.

NATS is increasingly being asked for our advice on when more runways might be needed, how to manage demands of global events like the Olympics, and how to reduce delays or move more aircraft.