Abstract :  This study examines the long-term relationship between air transport and economic growth in Japan between 1980 and 2023. The autoregressive distributed lag ARDL model and the Granger causality test were used. The results of the bounds cointegration test revealed that all study variables are cointegrated. The long-term results showed that air transport passengers have a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth, as well as financial development and urbanization. An increase of 1% in the number of air transport passengers contributes to a 0.08% increase in GDP per capita. The short-term results showed that energy use and urbanization have a positive impact on economic growth. Granger’s causality results show that there is a one-way relationship from economic growth and financial development to air transport passengers, furthermore, there is a two-way relationship between air transport, energy consumption and the social globalization index. Based on these findings, and in light of the study's results, it is clear that giving great importance to the Japanese air transport sector and its development is a priority, given its positive impact on long-term economic growth.