The main purpose of the Economic Analyses and Forecasting programme is to provide analytical support to the air transport development and efficiency implementation. The tasks under this programme are becoming more complex and almost as sophisticated as the neurological system in a human being.

The air transport industry needs to:

• know its contribution to the world and national economies in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP);
• be aware of its role in the development of other economic sectors such as tourism and trade;
• estimate the impact on the social welfare; and
• build sophisticated and accurate traffic forecasts to better predict the evolution of the civil aviation sector, in order to:
  • meet the future demand; for air transport services;
  • develop appropriate air transport infrastructure to meet that demand; and,
  • develop strategies to mitigate internal and external shocks that might affect the operations and profitability of the industry.

​​​​