Air traffic booming around the world

More passengers mean more aircraft in use. Asia's fleet for instance is set to be twice as big by 2035 to total about 17,000 planes. North America will have some 9,800 aircraft and Europe's about 7,900 (up from 4,610 today).

More planes in use mean more pilots are needed. Boeing reckons that about 617,000 new pilots will have to be recruited by 2035, particularly in Asia. On top of that, there's a need for 679,000 new maintenance staff and 814,000 additional flight assistants, says Boeing. Airbus sees a need for 560,000 new pilots.

Europe's biggest hubs in terms of passenger numbers are London Heathrow, Paris-Charles De Gaulle and Frankfurt in Germany, handling between 73 million and 64 million passengers. In Frankfurt, over 2 million tons of cargo were dealt with in 2014. The world's largest airport in Atlanta in the US boasted 100 million passengers in 2015.

Growth at German aviation hubs is not so much a result of booming German carriers. It's more about the strength of foreign airlines. The number of German carriers' take-offs has shrunk steadily over the past six years. By contrast, no-frills competitors such as Ryanair and Easyjet have seen a 14-percent rise in take-offs from German airports.

German flagship carrier Lufthansa was able to log 1.8 billion euros ($1.94 billion) in profit last year, beating results from a year earlier and despite a series of strikes crippling the airline. Industrial action organized by the VC pilots' union since 2014 has cost Lufthansa about half a billion euros. Meanwhile, management and pilots have struck a deal in principle.

Aviation is a lucrative business, but some market players do better than others. While airlines tend to get a 4-percent yield on their invested capital, German airport operators and plane manufacturers secure between 6 and 7 percent. Doing even better are air traffic control, haulers and booking services, which - says a McKinsey study - can get as much as 20 percent in proceeds from capital.

Here you are: beds for tired travelers, massagers and generous legroom, childcare services and a bar plus shower cabinets to make you feel alright. This is what passengers hope they will see on board in the not-too-distant future. Should this become a reality, passenger numbers are bound to soar further.