An airline group says Queenstown has been in hot demand, as the sector tries to bounce back from late-stage pandemic doldrums. Photo / Supplied
An airline group says Queenstown has been in hot demand, as the sector tries to bounce back from late-stage pandemic doldrums. Photo / Supplied
Global demand for air travel reached new highs last year but the industry says a supply chain logjam is a multibillion-dollar headache in serious need of a solution.
Data today from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) showed demand for air travel grew 5.3% last year.
International demand was up7.1% and domestic was up 2.4%.
“This returns industry growth to align with historical growth patterns after the robust post-Covid rebound,” Iata said.
Asia-Pacific airlines posted a 10.9% rise in full-year international traffic.
“The region finished 2025 with the fastest growth rate and highest load factor of any region,” Iata said.
Capacity in the region rose 10.2% and the load factor - the percentage of available seating capacity filled with passengers - rose from 83.9% to 84.4%.
“The strong and continuous increase in demand puts into sharp focus two key challenges: Decarbonisation and supply chain,” Iata said.
The airline group called on governments to provide policies to increase sustainable aviation fuel (Saf) production.
Iata said supply chain problems were the biggest challenge for airlines last year.
“People clearly wanted to travel more, but airlines were continually disappointed with unreliable delivery schedules for new aircraft and engines, maintenance capacity constraints, and resultant cost increases that are estimated to exceed US$11 billion [$18.12b].”
The group said airlines “scrambled” to accommodate demand by keeping aircraft in service longer and filling more seats on every flight.
“With load factors just shy of 84%, it’s clear that these measures were an effective band-aid, but we need a real solution,” Iata director general Willie Walsh said.
“It’s vital that 2025 proves to be the nadir of the supply chain crisis, and 2026 marks a rebound.”
Cath O’Brien, Board of Airline Representatives (Barnz) executive director, said New Zealand was roughly in the middle of its October-March peak season now.
She said expectations of very strong demand for Queenstown and Christchurch had held up.
“It’s been good to see the growth. I’m not sure if we’ll get to exactly 100% of pre-Covid arrivals this summer. New Zealand has probably been one of the slower [countries] to recover.”
She said the country’s remoteness, the cost of getting to New Zealand, and small domestic market were likely the main reasons for that.
“When you have a limitation on your fleet, New Zealand becomes less commercially favourable.”
O’Brien said New Zealand needed to keep making itself a viable destination, and work had to progress on making Ōhakea available for widebody aircraft unable to land at Auckland or Christchurch.
Iata said global e-commerce strength drove air cargo growth.
Cargo tries to outwit Trump tariffs
In air cargo, global demand at the end of last year was 4.3% greater than a year earlier.
Iata said global e-commerce strength drove volumes, even as trading relationships with the US faced rising tariffs and policy uncertainty.
Air cargo adapted quickly to support global businesses and supply chains ahead of tariff impositions, Walsh said.
Global air cargo growth in 2026 was expected to moderate slightly to 2.4%, Walsh said.
The airline group said jet fuel prices averaged 9.1% lower last year than in 2024. But Iata said refiners captured more margin, offsetting part of the benefit for airlines.
Ren Nikaido of Japan at the Ski Jumping World Cup in Sapporo earlier this month. Photo / Kentaro Tominaga, Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP
Tourist numbers in Japan have been soaring from 6.2m in 2011 to 36.8m the year before last and last year’s numbers are on track to be even higher.
“Since launching flights from Sydney to Sapporo last month, the response from customers has been incredibly strong,” said Cam Wallace, Qantas International chief executive.
“We’re only halfway through the current season and already we’ve carried almost 10,000 customers on the route and demand is high for the rest of the season.”
Qantas uses the widebody Airbus A330-200 for the flights to Chitose Airport, which earlier this week had so much snow dozens of flights were cancelled.
The JNTO said the peak Japan ski season ran from December to February.
John Weekes is a business journalist covering aviation and courts. He has previously covered consumer affairs, crime, politics and courts.
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