Airplanes have become an indispensable part of the travel world today. There's hardly a faster way to get to your desired destination, anywhere in the world. This article will shed light on who leads this multi-billion dollar business, how much air traffic there is today, and where aviation originated.
1. The Idea of Flight
Wilbur and Orville Wright. The Wright brothers from the United States are often placed at the beginning of the history of flight. On December 17, 1903, they were able to leave the ground for a few seconds with their newly created flying machine. But theory and practice go back much further.
The first human being is said to have literally lost the ground beneath their feet as early as the 11th century. The English Benedictine monk Eilmer of Malmesbury is said to have made the first gliding flight here, flying a few hundred meters. With wings of his own design on his arms and legs, he attempted the experiment and immediately achieved a world premiere – and broke his legs upon landing. Whether it was the missing tail wings, as he himself suspected and recorded, he was probably never able to determine during his lifetime.
The painter and polymath Leonardo da Vinci shared a similar passion for this field of interest. His design plans, sketched out in the 15th century, unfortunately only worked in theory.
Almost a hundred years before the often-mentioned Wright brothers, Jakob Degen achieved what had previously been considered impossible. Starting in 1808, the Swiss-Austrian watchmaker, inventor, and aviation pioneer hosted free flights of his unmotorized constructions in Vienna's Prater. Among his most famous spectators were the Austrian imperial couple in 1810, and shortly thereafter, the nobility and dignitaries in Paris for the birthday celebration of the French emperor and military leader Napoleon. In 1816, Jakob Degen also launched his developed mechanical helicopter model in Vienna's Prater. His clockwork-powered propeller rose a full 160 meters in controlled free flight.
2. How much flying is done today?
The year 2023 was a record year in terms of air traffic. On July 6, 2023, approximately 250,300 aircraft were recorded in the air worldwide at the same time. Almost half of these were passenger aircraft. According to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), over 200,000 aircraft are in the air every day. Passenger aircraft, cargo aircraft, and military aircraft. It is also unimaginable that more than 500 aircraft often take off and land at Frankfurt Airport every day.
3. Purchase Prices
The purchase prices of aircraft are difficult to catalog in a comprehensive manner due to their equipment, size, engine, and intended use. Nevertheless, it is worth knowing that the cheapest option for a passenger aircraft is the Cri-Cri (French for "cricket"). This twin-engine small aircraft can be purchased as a kit starting at €20,000. However, buyers must expect several thousand hours of labor for assembly.
The most expensive aircraft in the world is not a civilian aircraft. This is likely Northrop Grumman's B2 Spirit stealth bomber, with a purchase price of over $2 billion.
The most expensive civil passenger aircraft was produced by Airbus with its custom-built A380, whose production has since been discontinued. A basic model without any special features started at around $170 million. A specially built luxury version was available for a Saudi Arabian prince for over $500 million.
Prices for large passenger aircraft for scheduled flights are around $80 million for a variant of the Boeing 737.
4. Air Travel Safety
Flying is generally considered a statistically safe means of travel worldwide, and also the fastest. However, there are regional differences in safety. Europe, North America, and northern Asia are statistically the safest flying areas in the world. Air accidents occur far more frequently in Africa and the Middle East. According to the Aviation Safety Network (ASN), the probability of a plane crash is only 1 in 3,000,000. Traveling by train is safer, but this is only possible to a limited extent on continental routes. While air safety has improved significantly, a new statistical record for global aviation fatalities was recorded in 2024. The number of fatalities was 8.9% higher than the previous ten-year average. Hope lies in a rare cluster of sad individual cases.
If we isolate accident rates in Germany, 35 flight fatalities (2023) compared to 2,839 traffic fatalities (2023) on German roads.
5. Aviation Economic Giants
5.1 The Two Largest Aircraft Manufacturers
Airbus is the undisputed number one aircraft manufacturer worldwide. Airbus is the largest aerospace company and the second-largest defense company in Europe. Its product portfolio ranges from commercial aircraft and civil helicopters to launch vehicle systems and guided missiles. Airbus is a European public limited company listed on the Netherlands Stock Exchange (ISIN NL0000235190) and has its administrative headquarters in Toulouse, France. The Airbus Group employs well over 156,000 people.
Since 2019, Airbus has been the global market leader in its business areas. The A321neo, A320ceo, and A320neo product variants account for approximately two-thirds of the market leader's orders. Airbus operates factories in Europe, China, and the USA. During the coronavirus pandemic, orders naturally declined significantly, but the company was able to gain momentum starting in 2021, and by 2024, the number of orders significantly exceeded the quota of its long-time competitor, Boeing. After the 2019/2020 economic crisis, which also resulted in fines following corruption allegations, record profits were again posted up to and including 2024. The commercial aviation segment accounted for 73% of total revenue. Airbus produced a total of around 16,000 aircraft by the beginning of 2025 and, along with Boeing, forms a duopoly worldwide in the production of civil jetliners.
The second-largest aircraft manufacturer in the world is the US company Boeing. The American giant is currently in the midst of an economic crisis. The company suffered a severe loss of confidence after technical problems and construction defects in various aircraft models became known. Reported crashes are also damaging the company's reputation. The public company (US stock exchange, ISIN US0970231058), with headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, USA, even announced layoffs of 2,500 employees for 2025. The Boeing Group employs well over 170,000 people. Since order numbers are far behind its competitor Airbus, the former number one aircraft manufacturer could permanently occupy second place in commercial aviation. The good news, however, is that the order situation is still secure beyond 2030. The number of orders is so high that capacity utilization is guaranteed in the coming years, and a recovery is desirable. Revenue from the commercial aircraft segment recently amounted to only 34%. Popular bestsellers include the Boeing 737 model, which has been overhauled in terms of safety and is designed to be more fuel-efficient.
5.2 The two largest airlines in Europe
Lufthansa is the largest aviation company in Europe. The German Lufthansa Group was founded in Berlin in 1926 and temporarily dissolved in 1945. The stock corporation (ISIN DE0008232125), headquartered in Cologne, has the highest traffic volume at Frankfurt Airport. The Lufthansa fleet consists primarily of the Airbus A320. The company focuses primarily on passenger transport. For this purpose, various airlines, such as SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings, have been part of the German Lufthansa Group, and Lufthansa City Airlines has been part of it since 2024. The transport giant employs over 101,000 people. And the company aims to continue growing. In January 2025, the company partially acquired ITA Airways. A partial acquisition of TAP Air Portugal is also planned.
Rayanair ranks second in Europe. The airline has existed since 1985 and maintains its reputation as a low-cost airline. This low-cost business concept was developed in 1993. Despite this highly successful concept, the relatively low wages and poor working conditions for employees have been criticized. The public company (ISIN IE00BYTBXV33) has its administrative headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and employs well over 19,000 people. In strong economic years, the company transports over 100 million passengers per year (152 million in 2019). 2025 is expected to be a record year as a result of an intensive expansion strategy that the airline has persistently pursued for several years. Ryanair offers 2,000 daily flights to 200 destinations in over 30 countries.
Passenger numbers in Europe: After the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation industry in Europe recovered noticeably. By 2023, 717 million people were flying across the EU, including around 98.1 million passengers from Germany. Before the pandemic, 124.4 million people departed from German airports (2019). In Poland, Spain, and Portugal, the numbers are even significantly higher than before the coronavirus crisis.
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Sources (in German):
Resarch Database Statista-com in Auswertung: "Gesamtzahl der Flugzeugbestellungen bei Airbus bis 2025" vom 21.08.2025
Resarch Database Statista-com im Fact-Sheet: "Airbus - Statistiken und Fakten" vom 01.07.2025
Resarch Database Statista-com im Fact-Sheet: "Lufthansa - Statistiken und Fakten" vom 26.05.2025
Statistisches Bundesamt Wiesbaden, destatis-de in Pressemitteilung: "Nach der Corona-Pandemie: Zahl der EU-weiten Flugpassagiere 2023 mit 717 Millionen wieder knapp unter dem Niveau von 2019" mit Stand 21.02.2025.
Resarch Database Statista-com im Fact-Sheet: "Boing - Statistiken und Fakten" vom 01.07.2025
Resarch Database Statista-com im Fact-Sheet: "Größte Airlines weltweit nach der Flugzeugflottengröße bis 2024 " vom 11.08.2025
Magazin Welt der Wunder in articles: "Wie sicher ist Fliegen?" | "Wer erfand das Fliegen?" | "Wie voll ist der Himmel?" | "Was ist das billigste Flugzeug der Welt?". Ausgabe 1/25, page 92.
Resarch Database Statista-com im Fact-Sheet: "Anzahl der Todesopfer bei Unfällen im weltweiten Flugverkehr in den Jahren 2010 bis 2024" vom 23.06.2025