Positives and negatives of economic air travel

In modern times, a majority of us have access to travel to other countries via plane. It would feel ridiculous if we never had any form of air travel, considering it is the fastest way to go a faraway distance such as from South Korea to the United States. While this positive is noted by many, others claim that there are plenty of drawbacks to this mode of transport that overshadow these benefits, such as air pollution and the spread of disease This essay will further delve into the conveniences and shortcomings of economic air travel whilst including the writer’s personal opinion. One viewpoint is that aeroplane travelling provides many benefits. I would side with this opinion due to easier accessible international travel and increasing cultural diffusion being two of the many advantages out there. Travelling is a huge part of our lives. More than 40% of the Earth’s population travel at least once in their lifetime, with half of those people travelling a minimum of once a year. From my home country, more than 70% of people, adults and children alike, travel abroad. Personally, I have travelled to many places such as Australia, the U. S. , the United Kingdom, and Singapore. I was able to reach these regions so quickly thanks to commercial air travel, which allowed me to relax throughout the whole journey. Through these visits, I was able to understand different cultures and how these varied ideas were incorporated into many societies. My close friends in school have also experienced this as we all attended a Canadian international school that tied many Korean practices together. Due to this cultural diffusion, many citizens from different countries were able to realise that many people in America were racially suppressed, and provided financial and emotional support to them during the Black Lives Movement. This makes me more willing to side with the argument that aeroplane travelling brings more good than bad. On the other hand, air pollution and the spread of diseases--particularly COVID-19--make people assume that air travel only has its negative impacts. Airplanes do consume a ton of fossil fuels--mainly oil--to operate their engines, yet the amount of oil consumption of air transport is significantly outweighed by the consumption of cars. Vehicles tend to use 10 times more oil than aeroplanes. This is not to say that the former mode of transport does not contribute towards creating pollution, but it is not as significant when compared to other forms. That is why I cannot side with this argument. The other complaint regarding air travel is that the spread of the ongoing pandemic mainly resulted from this, but that is only partially true. While citizens can contract it and pass it on to others during their trips, the disease itself is an airborne one. Regardless of whether aircrafts would operate or not during this time of crisis, the disease would have expanded to all four corners of the Earth, infecting roughly the same number of people so far. 9 out of 10 scientists agree with this statement, so that is why I cannot side with the opinion of airplane transportation having more negatives than positives. To conclude, some people believe that airplanes provide many benefits, in particular cultural diffusion and easier access to international travel. On the flip side, others argue that there are more drawbacks that should be focused on, such as air pollution and the spread of diseases. The writer personally fancies the advantages that air travel presents.