International Flight Passengers, 2005-2024
A complete IELTS Academic Writing Task 1 question with a model answer of 206 words, plus a breakdown of the sentence structures, cohesive devices and vocabulary that answer uses. Write your own version first, then compare.
Written by Manish Sharma · CELTA and DELTA qualified · 8 years teaching IELTS
Score my answer to this questionThe question
You have 20 minutes. Write at least 150 words.
The line graph below shows the number of international flight passengers (in millions per year) passing through three regional aviation hubs — Dubai, Singapore and London — between 2005 and 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. [Line Graph Data — International Passengers, millions per year] Year | Dubai | Singapore | London 2005 | 24 | 32 | 68 2008 | 37 | 37 | 67 2011 | 50 | 46 | 69 2014 | 70 | 54 | 73 2017 | 88 | 62 | 78 2020 | 26 | 12 | 22 2022 | 66 | 32 | 61 2024 | 94 | 69 | 81
How to approach it
- 01Paraphrase the introduction — change 'shows' to 'illustrates' and reorder the phrase
- 02Identify the major event (the 2020 collapse) in the overview
- 03Group the trend into clear phases: growth, collapse, recovery
- 04Use precise verbs: 'almost quadrupled', 'rebounded', 'narrowly surpassed'
- 05Make direct comparisons between hubs rather than describing each separately
- 06Round large numbers sensibly — avoid quoting every decimal
Model answer
206 words in 5 paragraphs. Read it after you have written your own, not before: the point of a model answer is to show you what you missed, and you cannot miss anything you have not attempted.
The line graph illustrates how passenger volumes at three major international hubs — Dubai, Singapore and London — changed between 2005 and 2024, measured in millions per year.
Overall, all three airports grew strongly until 2017 before suffering a steep collapse in 2020. London had the highest figures at the start of the period, but Dubai overtook it from around 2014 and remained the busiest hub by 2024.
Looking first at the period before the pandemic, Dubai grew most rapidly, almost quadrupling from 24 million passengers in 2005 to 88 million in 2017. Singapore expanded at a slower but steady rate, climbing from 32 million to 62 million over the same span. London, by contrast, started from a much higher base of 68 million and grew only modestly to 78 million, reflecting its more mature market.
All three hubs then experienced a sharp downturn in 2020, when international travel restrictions caused passenger numbers to fall to historic lows of 26 million in Dubai, just 12 million in Singapore and 22 million in London.
Recovery was rapid but uneven. By 2024, Dubai had reached an all-time high of 94 million, while London partially rebounded to 81 million. Singapore also recovered strongly, hitting 69 million, narrowly surpassing its 2017 peak.
What this answer actually does
Measured from the text above, and compared against the other 38 answers of the same type in this library. These are counts, not band scores: they describe what the writing does, which is the part you can copy.
1.5 fewer than the median answer for this task type
5 words at the shortest, 37 at the longest
1 fewer than the median answer for this task type
carry a subordinate or relative clause
Sentence rhythm
Sentences average 20.6 words and vary by 8.4 words either side of that, running from 5 words to 37. Variation is the point. Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards a mix of simple and complex sentences, and an answer where every sentence is the same length reads as flat no matter how correct it is. 2 of the 10 sentences here carry a subordinate or relative clause.
The cohesive devices it uses
4 in total, spread across 3 different functions. Range matters more than count: an answer that opens every paragraph with a sequencer signals its structure but never signals a relationship between ideas, and Coherence and Cohesion is marked on both.
by contrast, while
then
overall
Vocabulary and repetition
Ignoring grammar words, 74 per cent of the content words in this answer are distinct, and 63 per cent appear exactly once. Lexical Resource is where repetition costs the most marks, and the usual cause is not a small vocabulary but reaching for the same noun every time the topic is named.
The longest run of words copied straight from the question is 5 words. Examiners discount wording lifted from the question, so a short run here is the right outcome: the answer restates the topic in its own words rather than borrowing the question's.
What you are marked on
All four criteria carry equal weight, and your Writing band is their average rounded to the nearest half band.
Task Achievement
Identify main trends, the disruption and the recovery, with comparisons
Coherence & Cohesion
Structure by phase rather than airport for stronger flow
Lexical Resource
Use varied verbs and adverbs to describe trends and changes
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Accurate past tenses, comparatives and superlatives
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