Photo: ACI World
Data released by Airports Council International (ACI) World suggests increasingly uneven growth in traffic in different regions, despite overall long-term sustained demand for air travel.
The airport trade body says in its newly released World Airport Traffic Forecasts 2025-2054 that long-term demand is projected to remain on a positive trajectory, reaching 18.8 billion passengers by 2045.
The forecasted figure of 10.2 billion passengers in 2026 represents a 3.9% year-on-year increase from 2024. However, airport leaders warn that despite the strong growth the share of traffic is increasingly uneven across different regions, with mounting capacity constraints.
Justin Erbacci, ACI World Director General, noted that the forecast sends a clear signal that “long-term growth is not guaranteed without coordinated action”.
He also said that to accommodate rising demand, the industry must “accelerate investment in airport infrastructure, airspace capacity and operational resilience, while strengthening collaboration across airports, airlines, governments, regulators and industry partners”.
Hurdles that need to be addressed across the industry at a global scale are capacity constraints, such as airport infrastructure limitations and aircraft delivery challenges. Meanwhile, uneven regional growth is demonstrated by some markets significantly outperforming, while others structurally lag. Operational complexity is also a challenge, with supply-chain disruptions, geopolitical uncertainty and sustainability imperatives continuing to impact the industry.
Calling for collective action, Erbacci said: “Capacity constraints jeopardise the industry’s ability to meet the projected demand and create operational bottlenecks, directly affecting the quality and reliability of the passenger journey.”
At the same time, insufficient investment will result in “missed economic development opportunities at regional and national levels”.
Reiterating that aviation plays a central role in global economic development – it contributes 3.9% of global GDP – Erbacci concluded: “Ensuring the sector can sustainably absorb future demand growth is therefore not only an industry priority, but a global economic imperative.”
