he global airline industry will likely rake in more than $1t in revenue next year, as passenger numbers look set to hit an all-time high of 5b, the IATA said Tuesday. IATA also predicted that airlines’ average profit per passenger would increase to around $7 next year, up sharply from just $2.25 18 months ago. This year, per-passenger profit is expected to be $6.40. The figures represent a stunning comeback for an industry that, because of the pandemic, recorded three consecutive years of losses between 2020 and 2022, amounting to almost $187b. Sustained demand for travel, which rebounded strongly after Covid-era travel restrictions were lifted, has quickly restored the airline industry’s profits and allowed some carriers to charge higher ticket prices. Middle East airlines are seen leading the pack next year, with profit per passenger of $24, followed by US airlines at $12 and European airlines at $9. IATA expects airlines in Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region to be less profitable than the industry average. In prerecorded comments, IATA director general Willie Walsh described the “huge” revenue figure as “great news.” He added, however, that net profitability across the industry would still be “wafer-thin,” at $36.6b — and not helped by delays in aircraft deliveries by “key players,” referring to plane makers Airbus and Boeing. “Supply chain issues are having a very significant impact on our cost base… There’s no end in sight to the problem,” he said. A chronic shortage of planes means that older, less fuel-efficient aircraft are being flown for much longer, increasing operating and maintenance costs and negatively affecting the environment. Global conflicts are also driving costs higher because of the big stretches of airspace closed to commercial flights, Walsh said. The closures force airlines to take longer routes and can also precipitate delays, because there is less airspace available for a growing number of flights.<br/>
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The average age of the global commercial airline fleet has reached a “record” of 14.8 years, according to IATA, as supply-chain challenges frustrate the industry’s growth and decarbonisation efforts. Outlining its latest forecasts on 10 December, the industry association said that new aircraft deliveries have fallen sharply from the high of 1,813 units in 2018, with this year’s predicted total of 1,254 marking a 30% shortfall from expectations as the year began. That left the age of the fleet this year significantly higher than the 1990-2024 average of 13.6 years. IATA expects deliveries to rise to 1,802 units in 2025, which is still “well below” earlier expectations of 2,293 deliveries, with further downgrades “widely seen as quite possible”, it claims. “Supply-chain issues are frustrating every airline with a triple whammy on revenues, costs and environmental performance,” says IATA director general Willie Walsh. “Load factors are at record highs and there is no doubt that if we had more aircraft they could be profitably deployed, so our revenues are being compromised. “Meanwhile, the ageing fleet that airlines are using has higher maintenance costs, burns more fuel, and takes more capital to keep it flying.”<br/>
The aviation industry is not moving fast enough to reach its targets for producing and using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the head of airline trade body IATA Willie Walsh said on Tuesday, as it aims for net zero emissions by 2050. "We're not making as much progress as we'd hoped for and we're certainly not making as much progress as we need," Walsh said at an IATA media day in Geneva. As it stands, sustainable aviation fuel makes up only around 0.3% of the world's jet fuel usage and is projected to only account for 0.7% by 2025, according to IATA data, with experts saying the production rate of the green fuel needs to grow quickly for the sector to achieve its emissions goals. An IATA study presented on Tuesday showed that global production of green jet fuel in 2024 was only 1 metric ton, lower than IATA's projection a year ago that it would be 1.5 tons. Walsh pointed to a lack of biorefineries under construction which could produce the green jet fuel, many of which require extensive capital expenditure to get built. IATA said it would launch a new project to better track global SAF initiatives next year in an effort to provide more transparency for the sector's progress.<br/>
Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault says the government will be launching a new version of its program to make flights to remote regions more affordable. The government has increased the budget to $55m for 2025-26 and 2026-27 to support the renewed Programme d'accès aérien aux régions (PAAR) and meet the expected increase in demand for tickets, according to a news release published on Tuesday. Guilbault's announcement comes a year after Quebec airline Pascan Aviation stopped offering flights from Mont-Joli in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region to cities including Sept-Îles in the Côte-Nord. In 2023, Pascan Aviation cut down on flights to areas that weren't financially viable, citing the Quebec government ending its aid program to support air travel in some remote regions. Guilbault told a news conference in Gaspé on Tuesday that through PAAR, Quebecers will be able to benefit from discounts of 50 to 85% on airline tickets, which will be applied directly to their purchase from a participating carrier. Changes to the program will run from Feb. 3, 2025, to March 31, 2027. PAAR will also be expanded to allow non-profit organizations to benefit from discounted tickets as of next year. Tickets will be available for sale more than six months in advance.<br/>
Hong Kong has fully regained its status as an international aviation hub, the head of an international association has said, arguing that some foreign airlines’ failure to restore capacity to pre-pandemic levels in the city was due to supply chain and airspace issues rather than geopolitics. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told the Post on Tuesday at the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva that he stood by his earlier conviction that the city would recover its world-class aviation hub status by the end of this year. “And you know Cathay [Pacific Airways] will be at 100% of 2019 capacity at the end of this year or from January next year,” he said of Hong Kong’s flagship carrier. He pointed out the things dogging the city’s aviation industry had more to do with supply chain and airspace issues, rather than lacking attractiveness as a destination, or geopolitical reasons. “The reason that some foreign airlines have not returned or built up the capacity they had is principally an aircraft and airspace issue. So it goes back to the supply chain,” he said. “It’s because of the lack of availability of widebody aircraft … because of the additional maintenance time and checks that the existing aircraft require, much more so than anything to do with the market.<br/>
The government said Wednesday it will work to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic aviation industry while minimizing potential monopolistic harm from the soon pending merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. The transport ministry announced an aviation industry support plan during a meeting of industries-focused ministries held at Hanwha Ocean's research and development campus in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. To manage monopoly concerns arising from the merger, the ministry said it will support the implementation and supervision of corrective measures mandated by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) set as part of approval conditions. The FTC plans to establish a supervisory committee of experts by March to monitor Korean Air's compliance. Corrective measures include limiting fare hikes, prohibiting unfair mileage practices and maintaining the quality of services. Airline operations, currently split between two terminals at Incheon International Airport, Korea's main gateway west of Seoul, will also be reorganized. A detailed plan will be finalized by March. The government also intends to support low-cost carriers (LCCs) to prevent the merger from weakening their market position, according to the ministry. The ministry plans to secure additional traffic rights for medium- and long-haul routes for LCCs, such as those to Europe and Asia, to expand their business opportunities.<br/>
Boeing delivered 13 commercial jets in November, less than a quarter of the 56 jetliners it handed over to customers 12 months earlier, the U.S. planemaker reported on Tuesday. Deliveries were down from 14 in October, when most of the company's aircraft production was still shut down during a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers that ended Nov. 5. Boeing stock closed 4.5% higher on Tuesday. The planemaker said it restarted 737 MAX production, loading fresh fuselages into its Seattle-area Renton factory, after weeks of methodical preparation. News that Boeing restarted production of its best-selling 737 MAX last week was first reported by Reuters on Monday. The planemaker is trying to increase 737 production to a rate of 38 a month to generate much-needed revenue after it burned billions of dollars in cash during the first three quarters. However, it has been under heightened oversight by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration since a door plug blew out of a nearly new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 during a January flight.<br/>