More than 100 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, flying is everyday. Getting on a plane these days is just as common as getting on a bus, even if the safety procedure for the former is significantly more complicated than for the latter.
The next time you board a plane, it may never occur to you that you are inside a pressurized tube that travels hundreds of miles per hour, even though the air is too thin to breathe and so cold it would release it in seconds if you were Above and that’s just one example of the many truths about air travel that we take for granted.
Here are 20 more.
1. There are about 7,000 flights in the air at any one time
(And that’s just in the US. Pretty scary, if you consider that the country’s ATC system is stuck in the mid-20th century, right?)
2. There are no less than 20 flights per day between New York and London
And that’s only if you use JFK and Heathrow as airports. If you add at Gatwick and City airports in Newark and London, the number jumps to more than 30.
3. But that’s not the busiest international air route in the world.
Not even close. The busiest, between Hong Kong and Taipei, Taiwan, carries 680,000 passengers per month, or more than three times more than trips between New York and London.
4. More than a million people fly the world’s busiest domestic air route every month.
(From Tokyo-Haneda Airport to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Japan).
5. While only 350,000 people fly the busiest domestic route in the US.
(Between Los Angeles and San Francisco).
6. The average flight travels at 35,000 feet
That is roughly seven miles above the surface of the Earth.
7. At a speed of approximately 550 miles per hour
That’s about 9 times faster than the average freeway speed limit.
8. With outside temperatures around -65ºF
That’s colder than almost anywhere on Earth at any time of the year.
9. Flying is greener than you think
Although airplanes may look like flying emissions factories, global air travel accounts for only 2% of annual CO2 emissions from humans.
10. And it’s getting greener
Today’s airplanes are around 70% more fuel efficient than early airplanes.
11. Catering companies prepare more than 100,000 meals per day.
(Only for Singapore Changi Airport).
12. Most global airlines serve free meals
Essentially, only US carriers and low-cost international carriers charge.
13. The average international economy class airfare consists mainly of fares
You can use any strategy you want to get cheap flights, but no matter how low your airfare is, you are still responsible for fuel surcharges, departure taxes, security fees and other costs that you will only find in the fine print of your ticket aerial
14. Most airlines rely entirely on premium passengers for profit
One could bet that Etihad’s margin on The Residence, a three-bedroom apartment that costs as much as $ 40,000 a one-way, is pretty high.
15. Approximately 30 million aircraft departures occurred in 2011
That number is expected to nearly double, to 59 million, by 2030. Most of this growth will occur in developing countries, although not as much in China as might be expected, due to overcrowded skies over there.
16. Aviation is by far the safest way to travel.
Despite high-profile incidents like the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines, only .24 out of every million departures (approximately 0.000024%) of airline departures resulted in a fatal accident, with a total of 761 deaths. In contrast, approximately 1.3 million people die in traffic accidents each year.
17. For bags? Not so much
The Wall Street Journal estimates that airlines lost 21.8 million bags in 2013, or about 7 bags per 1,000 passengers.
18. Stock exchanges are a great source of profit, although
Baggage fees, anyway: More than $ 3.35 billion in 2013 alone.
19. So are the exchange rates
$ 2.81 billion, which for most US airlines is divided into $ 200 (for domestic flights) and $ 300 (for international flights). Speaking of which, where exactly does the money from those fees go?
20. More than 20 flights took off while reading this article
And that’s just at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest airport as of 2018.
