The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has projected that the country’s commercial, small, non-model fleet of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones is set to grow from 110,604 in 2017 to 451,800 in 2022.

The projection is part of the newly published report ‘FAA Aerospace Forecast Fiscal Years (FY) 2018-2038’. It also stated that the small model hobbyist UAS fleet is expected to more than double from around 1.1 million to 2.4 million units over the next five years.

The number of remote pilots is further estimated to grow from 73,673 in 2017 to 301,000 in 2022.

According to the new FAA aerospace forecast, US airline passenger numbers are expected to grow to 1.28 billion by 2038, seeing an increase of 400 million passengers from the existing 840.8 million.

“The number of domestic passengers is anticipated to grow at a rate of 4.7% this year and then at an average rate of 1.7% per year until 2038.”

The number of domestic passengers is anticipated to grow at a rate of 4.7% this year and then at an average rate of 1.7% per year until 2038.

Among other forecasts, the report stated that international passengers are estimated to increase from this year’s 5% at an average of 3.3% per year during the next two decades.

In a statement, FAA said: “A key to meeting this growth in air travel, while maintaining high levels of safety and efficiency, is to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure to meet demand.

“Underscoring this point, the FAA forecasts total operations (landings and take-offs) at FAA and contract towers to reach 51.0 million in 2018 and grow to 60.5 million in 2038.”

In order to achieve the projected growth, FAA and the US Department of Transportation are planning to make investments through the Airport Improvement Program.

The agency also aims to focus on air traffic modernisation, which is rapidly moving towards satellite navigation technologies and procedures that facilitate improved navigation for more aircraft.