IATA AGM: Europe aviation - connectivity is being taxed faster than it is growing

European aviation enters the summer of 2026 with a curious problem. Demand remains resilient, airports remain busy and airlines continue to carry near-record passenger volumes.

Yet the industry's underlying momentum is slowing.

According to IATA, European RPK growth fell to just 0.8% in Apr-2026, while scheduled seat growth for May-2026 and Jun-2026 effectively stalled.

The immediate explanation lies in geopolitical disruption and higher fuel costs. The deeper explanation is more structural.

IATA's European briefing at its AGM in Rio de Janeiro in Jun-2026 painted a picture of an industry increasingly constrained not by a lack of demand but by policy friction.

Border management failures, rising passenger taxes, airport charging disputes, regulatory intervention and sustainability policies that fail to deliver their intended outcomes are collectively creating drag on a sector that remains fundamental to Europe's economic competitiveness.

The conventional narrative suggests European aviation's challenge is decarbonisation. IATA's evidence points elsewhere.

The industry's more immediate challenge is preserving competitiveness in a market where costs continue to rise faster than productivity gains.

Europe has spent decades building one of the world's most connected aviation systems. The risk emerging from the latest data is that policymakers are gradually making that system more expensive, less efficient and less globally competitive.