Video of the week: Breaking bottlenecks - closing the soaring demand and constrained supply gap

Aviation demand has rebounded faster and more structurally than many expected, yet the industry's ability to respond remains constrained by two stubborn bottlenecks: aircraft availability and infrastructure capacity.

This CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World session brought together senior leaders from airports, regulators, ANSPs, airlines, finance and advanced air mobility to examine how these imbalances can be addressed before they hard-wire inefficiency into the next growth cycle. The discussion ranged from OEM delivery delays and MRO capacity shortages to uneven airport investment and air traffic management fragility.

Aircraft supply remains constrained by ongoing supply chain disruptions, engine durability issues and production discipline challenges at the major manufacturers, leaving airlines unable to fully capitalise on strong passenger demand.

At the same time, airports and ATC systems are diverging sharply: while markets such as the Middle East, India and parts of Southeast Asia are expanding aggressively, others in Europe and mature economies are grappling with runway limits, staffing shortages, regulatory complexity and political resistance to growth.

Panellists highlighted that the issue is no longer simply one of funding, but of governance, regulation and strategic alignment.

The session underscored the need for cost-effective infrastructure, smarter regulation, realistic sustainability pathways and closer coordination across the aviation ecosystem.

With demand expected to remain resilient through the second half of the decade, the debate made clear that without decisive action, capacity constraints risk becoming a permanent drag on economic and aviation growth.