Global supply chain issues affecting the delivery of new aircraft could well persist into 2026, said International Air Transport Association (IATA) director-general Willie Walsh.
“We’re not getting the new aircraft that a lot of airlines have banked on. It has also forced some airlines to reintroduce aircraft that they had planned to retire,” he told CNA on the sidelines of the IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit on Sunday (Jun 2).
“So it’s been very disruptive.
The best I can say about the supply chain problems is that it doesn’t appear to be getting worse.
“It’s stabilised at a bad position, but we think this will continue to impact the industry through this year, 2025, and probably into 2026.”
AIRLINE PASSENGERS, REVENUES TO HIT RECORDS
Aviation leaders gathered for the three-day global airlines event in Dubai to discuss ways to navigate around geopolitical instability, growth pressures from strained supply chains, and sustainability targets.
Despite the challenges, airlines will fly nearly 5 billion passengers this year and revenues will soar close to US$1 trillion, both record highs, the IATA said on Monday.
The trade body also expects the world’s airlines to post US$30 billion in net earnings this year, up from its previous estimate of US$25.7 billion.
The Asia Pacific, in particular, is growing at a healthy level, and has opened “a little bit earlier than we had expected”, said Mr Walsh.
But the progress has been affected by China’s poorer-than-expected recovery, he added.
“We’ve not seen the number of flights between China and the United States getting anywhere close to where it was. I think these will be resolved over time, but it has impacted on the rates of recovery in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Source: CNA
