2024 was a milestone year for aviation, but could have been even better

2024 was a historic year for the aviation industry, as global passenger traffic finally achieved a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels, supported by continued strong travel demand.

This strong demand coupled with restricted capacity drove higher load factors and impacted consumers in the form of higher airfares.

Airlines benefited from lower fuel prices, but non-fuel costs generally increased across the board.

These market dynamics are expected to help keep airline operating profits at historically high levels.

Supply chain issues remained a major restriction on industry growth throughout the year, headlined by aircraft delivery delays and significant additional engine maintenance requirements.

Airlines were particularly impacted by being unable to introduce new aircraft as planned, limiting their growth potential, increasing the average fleet age, hampering efforts to improve efficiency and cut emissions, and driving greater demand and costs for maintenance and aircraft leasing.

Service providers to airlines were among the major beneficiaries of the supply chain problems, with many lessors and MRO providers reporting high demand and record financial performance.