Average aircraft age rises as airlines grapple with supply-chain challenges

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/>