Published: 21:11, December 10, 2024
Global airlines forecast 2025 growth despite 'unacceptable' supply chain issues
By Reuters

This photo taken on September 4, 2024 shows two sail boarders on Botany Bay in front of a Virgin Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane preparing to land near a British Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and a QantasLink Bombardier DHC-8-402 at Sydney International Airport. (PHOTO / AFP)

GENEVA - Global airline body IATA forecast industry-wide 2025 revenue of more than a trillion dollars and record passenger numbers on Tuesday, despite what its chief Willie Walsh said were "unacceptable" difficulties in securing new planes.

Airlines around the world have seen their growth hampered by problems at Boeing and Airbus which have delayed jet deliveries. Without newer, more efficient planes, airlines say they cannot cut back fuel costs while flying more people.

"We've given them time. I think our patience has run out. The situation is unacceptable," International Air Transport Association (IATA) head Walsh told reporters in Geneva.

ALSO READ: Global airlines raise profit outlook for 2024

Walsh said suppliers were acting like "quasi-monopolies" and appeared to be benefiting from the problems they had caused.

"We're going to have to ramp up the pressure and maybe look for support to force key suppliers to get their act together," said Walsh, who was previously head of British Airways and its parent company IAG.

Despite the problems, IATA said it expected the industry to generate $36.6 billion of net profit in 2025, up from $31.5 billion in expected net profit in 2024, with a record 5.2 billion passengers set to fly.

That comes four years after the industry collapsed to a $140 billion loss in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but which has recovered thanks to robust travel demand.

ALSO READ: Global airline bosses to address geopolitical, climate challenges

Jet fuel prices are also set to fall, offering some relief.

Walsh was upbeat about the second term of US President-elect Donald Trump, saying that his actions in his first term had boosted the sector.

"The indication is that the second Trump administration is likely to reverse some of the actions that were taken under the (Joe) Biden administration," he said.

"I would see the Trump administration as being a net positive for the industry," he added.

READ MORE: Airfares peaking as travelers in Europe, Asia seek savings

However, uncertainty tied to conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could pose risks to the sector's health, said IATA, which expects 2025 passenger yields, the average amount paid by a passenger to fly one mile, to fall by 3.4 percent versus 2024.