What country flies most?

I was wandering up to the entrance at Melbourne airport late last year when three members of the Rebels motorcycle gang arrived at the terminal.

Approaching the sliding doors at the exact same time as these three large, black-clad, sunburned men, I realised I would either have to slow down or speed up to avoid bumping shoulders.

I went to speed up, then, remembering the news about bikies killing someone at an airport a couple of years ago, I suddenly reversed my decision. I might just keep my eye on this lot, I thought, and let them through first.

What happened next?

They passed through security and I later saw them sitting near the gate. Like any other Australian, a bikie sometimes needs to travel by air.

Flying is a regular part of life for most of us. I doubt there is anyone reading this blog who hasn’t held a boarding pass in their hand in the last year. It’s a convenience, but it’s also a pain. All that waiting, the tiny seats, the way food tray is so crowded with things and hard to manage. It’s easy to forget that most people in the world have still never flown in a plane.

That fact made me wondered if I could quantify Australia’s tendency to fly.

It turns out Australia is in the top 10 countries globally for passenger movement, according to World Bank data. (The World Bank uses domestic and international aircraft passengers of air carriers registered in the country, which is a fair proxy in the case of some nations, and not for some others).

When you look at the data, you could easily conclude that Australians fly more than the citizens of any other country.

This chart uses that World Bank data to show domestic and international flights for the most flying-oriented countries, plus a few others for comparison. Nine countries score higher than Australia on this metric

When you look at the chart, it makes sense. The countries with the most flights per capita are islands. They are also often small countries where there’s nowhere else to go except to fly out. Several of them are tourist destinations or aviation hubs. (nb. Ireland and Antigua probably top the list because of their tax status (and RyanAir), not their proclivity for flying. The Irish statistical office claims only 22 million international flights) .

The countries above may also top the flights per capita listing because they are small. Australia is more than double the size of any country above it on the list (UAE, home to Emirates airlines, has 9 million inhabitants.)

Given all this, I am prepared to say Australians probably fly more than citizens of any other nation.

(The data from our own statistical agencies show the World Bank figures may underestimate the amount of flying. According to BITRE, Australia has 57 million domestic passengers a year and 23 million people, making 2.5 domestic flights per capita per year. Add in 33 million international passenger movements and the data suggest more than three flights per person per year – closer to 3.5. New Zealand may also be a contender for the flying-est nation, but its numbers are swollen by high inbound tourism, while Australia sees more departures than arrivals and a higher share of domestic travel.)

So Australians probably fly the most! We head to the airport as often as every three months. Woo-hoo?

I didn’t think so.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, Indian nationals rack up on average one flight every 20 years. That’s less than Kenyans, but slightly more than the Cambodians.

What would happen if Indians started flying more? Such a densely populated country will probably never fly as much as Aussies do, but what if they flew at the same rate as the Americans, 2.35 trips a year?

That would mean another 3 billion people taking to the sky every year. That’s a doubling of current global passenger numbers, which, according to ICAO, topped 3 billion for the first time in 2012.

It’s safe to say this would be bad for carbon emissions. The contribution of aviation would jump from 2 per cent of the global total to more like 4 per cent. Sorry, penguins. Sorry polar bears.

Furthermore, I estimate the world would need an extra 8,000 planes. (Based on a generous 370,000 passengers per plane per year). For context, Airbus currently makes around 50 planes a month.

The conseuquences for the aviation fuel market could be significant. There are already problems with supply leading to rationing.

Those extra planes are going to need somewhere to land as well. What cities in the world have space for more runways?

China has already increased its appetite for flying tenfold. From 35 million flights a year in 1994, it has increased to 350 million by 2014. The lesson is this – economic growth sends people to the airports, for business and for leisure.

India’s economy grew at 5 per cent per year. At that rate it won’t be a “rich” nation for perhaps a century. But in 2010 it grew at 10 per cent, and if –  like China –  its growth rate can be held high, then it can become very rich very fast.

If everybody in India can afford to fly – even the bikies – its worth asking the question of whether the world is ready for the consequences.