Global airlines forecast growth despite supply chain issues

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.

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.

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

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