Asia-Pacific Airlines Lead Growth Despite Constraints

Year-end airline passenger traffic data released by IATA last Thursday served up hearty ground for optimism, but came with the caveat of ongoing concerns over supply-chain constraints on the industry’s ability to satisfy rising demand. The figures for the Asia-Pacific region were especially encouraging for airframers exhibiting at this week’s Singapore Airshow, with this part of the world dominating global market share.

In 2025, Asia-Pacific airlines accounted for 34.5% of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK)—ranking ahead of Europe (26.6%), North America (21.8%), the Middle East (9.5%), Latin America and the Caribbean (5.4%), and Africa (2.2%). The region generated year-on-year load factor growth of 7.8% and a 6.5% boost in available seat kilometers (ASK), IATA’s measure of air transport capacity.

Globally, RPK increased by 5.3% over 2024, while ASK grew by 5.2%. It was also a record year for the international load factor average, which reached 83.7%.

IATA concluded that supply-chain issues for aircraft manufacturers were the “biggest headache for airlines” last year. The industry group expressed hope that 2026 could mark a rebound after what it said marked a nadir for the supply chain crisis in 2025.

“People clearly wanted to travel more, but airlines were continually disappointed with unreliable delivery schedules for new aircraft and engines, maintenance capacity and constraints, and resultant cost increases that are estimated to exceed $11 billion,” complained IATA director general Willie Walsh. “Airlines scrambled to accommodate the demand by keeping aircraft in service longer and filling more seats on every flight.”

Low Expectations for Airliner Orders

On the eve of this week’s airshow, expectations for new airliner sales seem muted. “In the commercial [airline] market, where they have already ordered 10 years of backlog, I don’t expect many new orders,” Joshua Ng, a director with Singapore-based consultants Alton Aviation, told AIN.

According to Alton, Asia-Pacific air transport started last year strong but became destabilized amid the anticipated fallout from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs targeting multiple states in the region. In the company’s view, the consequences were not as impactful on airlines as might have been expected, which would explain the strong growth recorded by IATA.

“But even though there is strong traffic growth, airlines are not making as much money due to continued uncertainty over tariffs and the impact on yields and profits,” Ng said. “The only saving grace is that oil prices went down, and the airlines benefited and managed to keep profits flat, at least.”

Meanwhile, airliner fleets are aging and becoming progressively less cost-efficient due to increasing maintenance costs. “The average age [of airliners] compared with pre-Covid is around two years older, and so airlines are operating much older aircraft than they would have liked,” Ng explained. “We are not expecting new aircraft production rates to recover fully until 2027 or 2028, but the leasing market is doing well.”

Manufacturing Diversification

Alton sees shifts in the Asia-Pacific aerospace manufacturing ecosystem, where the industrial base has historically been concentrated in Japan, China, and South Korea. “We are increasingly seeing companies in countries like India and Malaysia taking a bigger slice of the supply-chain pie for activity such as composites. With [airframing] work increasingly being dual or triple sourced, Southeast Asia is a big beneficiary.”

With geopolitical shifts around the U.S., its NATO allies, Russia, and China threatening defense insecurity worldwide, Alton also sees a pivot towards military markets in the Asia-Pacific region. “There are many new manufacturers trying to compete on the defense side in countries like Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and India, and the [Singapore] show is a good time for them to be promoting their technology.”