Speaking at the Routes Asia 2016 Strategy Summit, Vinoop Goel, the Asia-Pacific regional director of airport, passenger, cargo and security department at Iata, said in 2014 the sector contributed $705 billion while accounting for 33.7 million jobs.

He predicted this will grow to $1.34 trillion by 2035 with the sector set to be responsible for 72.3 million jobs.

Goel said: “The message I would like you to take away from this is the value of aviation, let’s do something about it.

“Investing in airports sounds like a big investment but when you compare it to this and the benefits it will bring, it is peanuts.

“The ministers of transport and tourism get it but the other government bodies holding the purse strings or undertaking planning processes don’t get it.”

He also echoed warnings made by other speakers at the summit that not enough is being done to help aviation infrastructure in the region with both both surface and sea transport taking precedence.

Goel also argued politics and private interests often get in the way of moving forward, particularly when governments pursue populist policies.

He also said airport development was often an afterthought, adding: “We should have started building airports 5 or 10 years ago.”