Global Airline Capacity to Remain Curtailed Until 2025 Due to Supply Chain Woes: IATA
The global airline capacity is expected to be lower than anticipated this year and will remain curtailed for at least until 2025. As per the information shared by IATA director general Willie Walsh, delays in the delivery of new aircrafts and shortage of spare parts are causing this hindrance.
The airline industry was hoping to bounce back from the pandemic restrictions which had affected their business over the last three years and was expecting travel demands to be higher this year. However, lack of planes to meet the growing business demand will potentially hamper their growth.
Aircraft manufacturers Boeing Co. and Airbus are experiencing this widespread pressure due to a gap in the supply chains and consequent delays in deliveries. The IATA director general shared that the manufacturing giants are dealing with a scarcity of spare parts, particularly for engines.
Last week, the Boeing Co. had to halt the delivery of the 737s due to supplier-related issues. In a similar fashion, industry sources said that Airbus also had to apprise airlines about delays in delivery in 2024 for its best-selling A320neo family of jets.
One of the biggest European airlines, Ryanair issued a warning on Wednesday that it would cut its July schedule due to subsequent delay of 10 Boeing 737 Max aircrafts as manufacturing issues are increasing.
On Wednesday, Willie Walsh told Reuters that “I can't see anything really improving or significantly improving probably until 2025 at the earliest and it may even go beyond that.” He further added, “It means capacity will be slightly lower than the industry had forecast.”
