IATA: Total Industry Revenues to break trillion-Dollar Barrier in 2025; Mideast Carriers Profitability Expected to be Strongest at 8.2%
Global air passenger numbers are set to exceed five billion for the first time next year, and industry revenues will surpass a trillion dollars, International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced.
“Passenger numbers are expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, a 6.7 percent rise compared to 2024 and the first time that the number of passengers has exceeded the five billion mark,” IATA said in a statement.
All regions are expected to show improved financial performance in 2025 as compared to 2024, and all regions are expected to deliver a collective net profit in both 2024 and 2025.
“Profitability, however, varies widely by carrier and by region. For example, the collective net profit margin of African airlines is expected to be the weakest at 0.9% while carriers in the Middle East are most likely to be the strongest at 8.2%,” said the statement.
Total industry revenues are meanwhile forecast at $1.007 trillion, helped by falling oil and fuel prices, “the first time that industry revenues top the $1 trillion mark,” it added.
“All of this gives us a financial performance which I think is absolutely worth popping the champagne” for after a post-pandemic rebound, IATA chief economist Marie Owens Thomsen told a news conference in Geneva.
The aviation body’s Director General Willie Walsh said in the statement that IATA expected profits of $36.6 billion despite “persistent supply chain challenges, infrastructure deficiencies, onerous regulation and a rising tax burden”.
Walsh voiced frustration however at delays to aircraft and engine suppliers, accusing them of failing to meet their commitments
The statement said that 1,254 aeroplanes were delivered to airlines in 2024 — 30 percent fewer than had been predicted, adding there was a backlog of 17,000 undelivered planes. The delays were forcing airlines to run older, less efficient planes, it said.
Source: Wam.ae
