The International Air Transport Association forecasts that the number of passengers transported by airlines will double by 2040 to around 8.5 billion passengers.

The rise in travel is caused by a surge in the number of people in Asia who can afford to travel internationally.

IATA forecasts from 2017 to 2037 the new air passengers will be:
China: 1 billion new passengers for a total of 1.6 billion
US: 481 million new passengers for a total of 1.3 billion
India: 414 million new passengers for a total of 572 million
Indonesia: 282 million new passengers for a total of 411 million
Thailand: 116 million new passengers for a total of 214 million

The Fall of Air Travel

China has built over 30,000 kilometers of high-speed rail but this network will be expanded through 2030. The total operating mileage of China's high-speed rail network is predicted to exceed 50,000 km by 2030–2035, thus revolutionizing land-based travel.