The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken North America as the world's largest air travel market with 647 million passengers in 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Monday.

国际航空运输协会（International Air Transport Association，IATA）在周一表示，亚太地区2009年航空载客量达6.47亿人次，超过北美成为全球最大的航空旅游市场。

By contrast, 638 million people flew on commercial flights in North America last year, IATA announced at an aviation business conference on the eve of the Singapore Airshow featuring the world’s leading aviation industry players.

IATA在新加坡航展之前的一个航空业会议上表示，北美地区2009年商务航空旅客人数为6.38亿人次。

Within Asia, China has eclipsed Japan over the past decade as the region’s largest domestic market, with 1,400 aircraft compared with Japan’s 540 and 5.7 million weekly seats against 2.6 million in Japan.

在过去的十年内，中国已经超过日本拥有亚洲最大的国内航空市场，目前中国拥有1,400架飞机，每周提供570万个座位，超过日本市场的540架飞机和260万的每周座位数。

The Singapore Airshow is taking place after a harrowing year in the global aviation industry, which lost an estimated 11 billion dollars in 2009 as a result of the financial meltdown that began in the United States.

对于全球航空业来说，2009年是惨痛的一年。从美国起源的金融危机，导致整个行业在2009年蒙受的损失估计达110亿美元。

IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani told the conference that the Asia-Pacific market would continue to grow rapidly with an estimated 217 million additional air passengers a year in the region by 2013. Related article: China’s online travel market booming

IATA理事长Giovanni Bisignani在会议上指出，亚太地区市场在2013年之前将出现急速增长，并且估计每年的航空旅客量将增加2.17亿人次。

“While we see dynamism and diversity within the region, the aspect of Asia-Pacific that excites me most is its potential,” said Bisignani.

“亚太地区市场充满活力和多样性，但最让我激动的是该地区市场的发展潜力，”Bisgnani表示。

“More than a quarter of the 2.2 billion people who flew last year, or 647 million people, flew within Asia-Pacific markets.

“2009年全球航空旅客人数达22亿，其中有6.47亿人次乘坐的航班位于亚太地区市场内，占全球总旅客人数的四分之一以上。

 “It has eclipsed travel within North America as the traditional leader in traffic numbers.” “北美市场的传统客流量冠军地位已被取代。”

IATA represents some 230 carriers that account for more than 90 percent of scheduled air traffic, but does not include many of the budget airlines credited with a boom in short and medium-haul travel in recent years.

IATA的成员代表了全球约230家航空公司，占定期航空客流量的90%以上。然而IATA的成员并不包括在近几年活跃在中短途航线的很多廉价航空公司。

Its members in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and North America recorded year-on-year declines in passenger demand of 5.0 to 5.6 percent in 2009, according to an IATA report released Friday.

IATA上周五的一份报告指出，2009年该机构在欧洲、亚太地区和北美地区的成员公司都出现了5.0-5.6%的乘客需求量的下跌。

But Asian airlines staged a strong recovery in December, when demand grew 8.0 percent from a year ago, nearly twice the global average, the IATA report said.

但是该份IATA报告也指出，亚洲的航空公司在12月份却出现了强劲的复苏，需求量同比增加8%，几乎是全球平均水平的两倍。

Bisignani told the conference that Asian airlines were projected to narrow their losses collectively to 700 million US dollars this year from 3.4 billion dollars in 2009, about a third of the industry’s global losses last year.

Bisignani在会议上表示，估计亚洲的航空公司2010年的总体亏损将被缩小到7亿美元，而2009年的亏损达34亿美元，几乎占当年全球亏损的三分之一。

“It is tough in all regions but Asia-Pacific’s prospects are improving faster than other regions,” he said.

“所有地区的日子都不好过，但亚太地区发展速度是最快的，”他表示。

Despite the upbeat outlook for Asia, Bisignani warned the region to press on with liberalisation or miss its growth potential.

虽然亚洲市场有着无限发展前景，但Bisignani也提醒说，该地区的市场自由化也需要加强，不然将错失增长的潜力。

He cited efforts by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc to liberalise the air sector by 2015 as an example.

他把拥有十个成员国的地区联盟--东盟（Association of Southeast Asian Nations，ASEAN）致力在2015年之前实现航空业自由化的努力作为例子。

“Industry is preparing and it is important that the target date is met… Asian aviation will not reach its potential if the airlines are constrained to old ways of doing business,” he said.

“行业已经在准备中，而我们能否在预定日期实现目标这点很重要……亚洲的航空业只有摆脱旧的商业模式的束缚，才可能发挥出它的潜力。”