Almost every country on earth offers airline flights, but no place registered more carrier departures than the United States of America last year.
In a report from WorldBank.org, there were an estimated 36 million flights in 2014, and an astounding 9,553,214 registered departures came from the United States alone. That’s almost one-third of the total flights in the entire world last year.
As if almost 10 million departures in the U.S. weren’t enough, the country’s total number of fliers was almost three times more than the second-place country China, which tallied 3,356,756 flights in 2014.
While America continues to dominate in the flights-per-year studies, the numbers overall are declining. In 2010, the United States totaled 10,095,197 flights, but the number has fallen each of the last five years, dropping by over 500,000 flights.
On the other hand, China registered 2,377,789 flights in 2010 and has climbed in each of the last five years, increasing by almost one million registered departures. Canada finished third in the World Bank data with 1,290,420 flights, the United Kingdom was the fourth busiest country with 1,069,420 flights and Brazil and its 937,437 flights rounded out the Top 5.
Even with the jump in numbers, China still doesn’t hold a candle to the U.S. though. For reference, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago is the busiest airport in America, with that one facility alone serving 881,933 arrivals and departures in 2014.
Here is the full list of the Top 10 countries in terms of registered carrier departures in 2014:
1. USA: 9,553,214 flights
2. China: 3,356,756 flights
3. Canada: 1,290,420 flights
4. UK: 1,069,420 flights
5. Brazil: 937,437 flights
6. Japan: 927,437 flights
7. Germany: 913,156 flights
8. Russia: 747,804 flights
9. Turkey: 723,207 flights
10. India: 720,050 flights