"In 2009, intra-Asia Pacific travel had eclipsed the number of travellers in North America as the world's largest aviation market," the International Air Transport Association said in a statement.
The sector lurched from one disaster to another through much of the past decade and is only now recovering from the global financial crisis that threatened even legacy airlines with ruin.
"The global aviation industry is expected to reduce losses from $US11.0 billion ($A12.51 billion) in 2009 to $US5.6 billion ($A6.37 billion) in 2010," association CEO Giovanni Bisignani told a conference in Singapore.
Mr Bisignani pointed to the explosion in Chinese aviation that underpinned growth in the Asia-Pacific.
AAP/Sydney Morning Herald, Australia