Airlines expect to carry nearly 5 billion passengers worldwide this year, far surpassing 2019’s record before the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced today.

The IATA general assembly held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates also predicts that in 2024 airlines will have worldwide net profit of $30.5 billion on an unprecedented turnover of $996 billion.

These expected results represent “a huge success given the recent severe losses due to the pandemic”, noted IATA director general Willie Walls, before representatives of the association that brings together 320 airlines, which represent 83% of global air traffic.

The 4.95 billion passengers forecast for this year largely shatters the record of 4.54 billion in 2019. The association had previously forecast 4.7 billion passengers in 2024.

The health crisis had caused a plunge in the aviation sector with huge losses. IATA estimates them at $183 billion between 2020 and 2022.

The $30.5 billion net profit forecast for this year marks an increase from the $25.7 billion forecast by IATA so far. It estimates that in 2023 airlines had revenues of $27.4 billion, compared to the $23.3 billion it reported in its previous forecast last December.