Air transport is a part of the overall transportation system and has no special mission of its own other than to serve the community by performing those functions for which it is best suited, technically and economically.

The impact of transportation on the development of world societies can hardly be overestimated. Before the advent of the steam engine, the horse on land and the sail at sea were the available tractive forces. Speed and capacity were low and transportation costs were high. Only high value goods could be hauled over extended distances. While ocean transport was often the prerogative of a national flag (remember the Navigation Laws under William Pitt—perhaps the forerunner of today's air traffic rights), local hauling activities were either performed by the users themselves or, if exercised as a trade, subject to the usual regulation of medieval guilds.