Within the 'Aviation emissions and evaluation of reduction options' (AERO)-model, the dominant features for the quantification of the development of global passenger demand were 'gross domestic product' (GDP) and population as external factors (taken from 'Intergovernmental panel on climate change' /'Special reports on emission scenarios' (IPCC/SRES)), air transport-related assumptions on elasticities and saturation effects, and (calculated) ticket prices.
The results for passenger demand (in terms of passenger-kilometres) within the constrained 'Constrained scenarios on aviation and emissions' (Consave) scenarios 'Regulatory push & pull' (RPP), 'Fractured world' (FW), and 'Down to Earth' (DtE) for the year 2020 were in line with what would be expected - that is lower than the actual forecasts for the year 2020 from the 'International Civil Aviation Organization' (ICAO), Airbus, Boeing, 'Forecasting and Economic Analysis Support Group' 'Forschungseinrichtung Satellitengeodäsie' (FESG). These forecasts are all close to the outcomes for the Consave 'Unlimited skies' (ULS) scenario. Compared to the outcomes from the FESG demand scenarios Fa, Fc, Fe (1999) for (2020 and 2050), the ranges of passenger demand for both sets of scenarios were very much the same, with the exception of the DtE scenario which was characterised by lower development.
Although AERO2k does not report passenger-kilometres, a comparison with forecast results of this study was possible on the basis of aircraft-kilometres from the year 2025, the AERO2k values for 2025 being in the middle of the range for the four Consave scenarios
The number of passengers within the four scenarios grew with rates very similar to those for the demand in passenger-kilometres, with one exception: for the FW scenario the growth rates for passengers were remarkably higher with respect to the number of passengers than with respect to passenger-kilometres, as within this scenario a decrease in long-range flights between blocks was combined with a compensatory higher air traffic activity within the blocks.
The project also reported figures for the development of air transport within and between the 14 'International Air Transport Association' (IATA) regions, used for the AERO-model system. Scenario-specific traffic flows for major route groups (in billions of passenger-kilometres) and the number of passengers of the IATA regions (in millions of passenger-kilometres) have been calculated up to 2050.
The highest increases in absolute numbers were in all scenarios for the Intra Asia airline, followed by Intra Central & South America as they are the largest markets with respect to population. As a consequence, the dominance of air transport within North America and within Europe will be remarkably reduced.
The growth factors differed significantly within the scenarios and the regions, dependant on the combinations of reasons, described in the study. Intra Africa, as a so far underdeveloped market, showed the highest growth factor (F) in all scenarios. In contrast, Intra North America, Intra Europe, and the Intra South Pacific market will have the lowest growth factors: They all will reach a high level of saturation.
Regional growth rates for passenger demand between 2000 and 2050 ranged from 0.1 % up to about 9 %, being quite different depending on the scenarios and the various regions.
The regional differences for the number of air passenger trips per capita (n) decreased over time until 2050, but for the region with the highest number of annual trips per capita (Southwest Pacific, n = 4.88 for ULS, n = 3.48 for RPP, n = 2.26 for FW, n = 1.35 for DtE) and the region with the lowest per capita air traffic (Eastern Africa, n = 0.54 for ULS, n = 0.37 for RPP, n = 0.21 for FW, n = 0.05 for DtE), the difference still remained very high, with a ratio (r) of the order of r = 10 for all scenarios (even higher for DtE).