NEW DELHI: Airlines need to come out of their core business and look at other options to boost revenue, said the Senior Vice President of Sustainability and Chief Economist at International Air Transport Association (IATA) Marie Owens Thomsen.
The global aviation industry earned a total profit of 36 billion dollars in 2024, translating to a modest margin of just 3.7%, according to senior economist and Vice President Thomsen, who addressed presspersons on Monday. She described aviation as a “capital-intensive and complex endeavour,” heavily reliant on passenger revenue, which accounts for over 70% of the sector’s earnings.
Speaking about rising operational costs, Thomsen noted that fuel alone makes up 26% of the industry’s total expenditure. “In 2025, every passenger flying contributed an average of 7.2 billion dollars in earnings to the aviation sector. In contrast, a passenger in the Middle East brought in 27.2 billion dollars, while in Africa it was just 1.3 billion dollars,” she said, attributing the Middle East’s high figure to significant investments in infrastructure.
Thomsen suggested that airlines could explore alternatives like manufacturing their own fuel internally, particularly Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), to ease dependency and reduce long-term fuel costs.
Supply chain disruptions remain a major challenge, she pointed out. “The industry is severely impacted by delays, especially when it comes to the delivery of regional jets and turbojets,” she said, adding that long waiting periods for aircraft are impeding fleet expansions and operations.
On the question of airfares, Thomsen remarked that fares have been on a consistent downward trend since the industry's early years. “This decline is likely to continue, thanks in part to the reduction in fuel costs,” she said.