Fly the world (but at what price?)
The development of jet aircraft has revolutionized travel,making it possible to go much futher much faster. New York in the mornig. A meeting and lunch in San Francisco. Then back east to Boston, before ending the day in Washington. Almost anything is possible.
And the airline industry is not just fast. It is big. Very big! In fact it's huge, starting with more than three million people employed by the world's airlines,or with the 14,000 airports that passengers fly to or from. How many passengers? Over 1.5 billion worldwide in 2005,with Atlanta International, the world's busiest airport, handling over 80 million paddengers alone.
In order to try to keep duch a complex industry under control,each of the world's airports has a special code. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) takes responsibility for the Internet. Every single flight that takes off is also identified by a unique number, called a flight number. This is composed of the airline's code and then three or four digits.
Airlines work through scheduled flights, which take off and land at regular published times, or charter flights that are contracted to fly at a set time. Flights can be short-haul, medium-haul, or long-haul, depending on the distance covered, but whatever the distance, passenger safety is at the heart of all operations, making air travel the safest form of transport by far.
Inevitably air travel creats problems, beginning with some people's fear of flying. More recently, however, the skies we fly have begun to look darker than the industry wants to admit. Security is now a major problem, especially after the devastating impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Also blackening the skies are the emissions from jet aircraft. A return transatlantic flight, for example, can produce up to two tons of carbon dioxide per passenger! So serious is the problem that in 2005 the UK Environment Minister asked travellers to consider subscribing to one of the carbon offset schemes available. It's relatively cheap. For example, the climate change impact of a flight to the Mediterranean only costs around 5 to offset.