Turkey will enter the world's top 10 largest markets in air transport over the next 20 years, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said yesterday.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents some 275 airlines comprising 83 percent of global air traffic, announced on its official website the 2036 Forecast report on the development of the fast-growing aviation industry in the world over the next 20 years.

According to the data revealed by the association, Turkey is expected to become one of the top 10 countries worldwide in the air transport sector by 2036.

The report also said Turkey will be among the five fastest-growing markets in terms of annual additional passengers in 2036 compared to 2016. It added that the country, which is among the fastest growing countries in the aviation sector, will add 119 million new passengers to the total passenger market by 2036, and will be carrying 196 million passengers per year. Thus, Turkey will become the ninth largest country in the aviation market.

China, the U.S., India, the U.K., Japan, Spain, Germany, Turkey, and Thailand are expected to be the top countries in air passenger transportation, the report said.

The association also said it expects 7.8 billion passengers to travel in 2036, a near doubling of the 4 billion air travelers expected to fly this year.