Dublin to London is second busiest international air route in world - report

Dublin to London is the second most travelled international air route in the world, according to new figures.

Some 3.6 million people travelled the Dublin to London air route last year, an almost 7 per cent increase over 2012, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which reviews the airline industry's performance annually.

The busiest air route in the world was Hong Kong to Taipei, with 4.9 million passengers traveling between the cities last year. There is more air travel in the Asia-Pacific than in any other region in the world.

Europe was the second busiest region, with 825 million passengers travelling in 2013, a slight increase over the previous year’s figures.

Britain had the most air traffic in Europe based on passengers carried on both domestic and international flights.

The United States is still the largest single air market in the world in terms of total two-way traffic, international and domestic.

The price of air travel decreased by 7.4 per cent last year, and the price of jet fuel decreased by almost 4 per cent, the report said.

The $2.4 trillion (€1.79 trillion) industry saw over three billion people travel by air last year, up five per cent from 2012. There were some 100,000 flights per day.

IATA director Tony Tyler said over 58 million jobs worldwide are supported by the aviation industry.