Global – In May 2025, aircraft manufacturer Airbus:
AFM Team Note – kindly contact us for a detailed Excel breakdown of orders and deliveries by airline.
Source: Airbus
Photo Credit: Airbus
Global – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has projected a modest rise in global airline profitability for 2025. The updated outlook, released during the IATA summit in New Delhi, outlines that while net profits are expected to grow compared to 2024, they will fall short of earlier projections due to geopolitical tensions, supply chain constraints, and persistent cost pressures.
IATA estimates net profits will reach $36 billion in 2025 (a 3.7% net margin), slightly below the $36.6 billion forecasted in December 2024. While total revenues are expected to hit a historic $979 billion, airlines continue to operate under tight margins, with an average per-passenger profit of $7.20.
Despite a global GDP slowdown to 2.5% and weakening air cargo performance, falling jet fuel prices and increasing efficiency gains have allowed the industry to maintain a positive trajectory. Fleet modernization and surging passenger demand are also credited for the industry’s resilience, though challenges remain in SAF adoption, aircraft availability, and regional volatility.
Profitability: Net profits projected at $36B in 2025, up from $32.4B in 2024.
Revenue: Total industry revenues to hit record $979B (+1.3%), driven by strong passenger growth.
Passenger Metrics: 4.99B passengers forecasted, 84% average load factor, $374 average airfare.
Cargo Decline: Revenues to fall 4.7% due to protectionism, weaker yields, and slower growth.
Fuel Impact: Jet fuel at $86/barrel (down from $99), with SAF costs posing pricing pressures.
Fleet Challenges: Aircraft delivery shortfalls, engine issues, and a 17,000+ aircraft backlog.
Risks: Trade wars, oil volatility, geopolitical tensions, regulatory fragmentation.
Regional Outlook:
Middle East: Highest profitability margin (8.7%).
Africa: Lowest margin (1.3%) due to high costs and infrastructure gaps.
North America: Strong absolute profits but hampered by crew and engine shortages.
Europe: Buoyed by LCC growth and open skies.
Asia-Pacific: Strong demand but slowed by China’s economic uncertainty.
Latin America: Only region forecasted to decline in profitability.
Statements:
“The first half of 2025 has brought significant uncertainties to global markets. Nonetheless, by many measures including net profits, it will still be a better year for airlines than 2024, although slightly below our previous projections. The biggest positive driver is the price of jet fuel which has fallen 13% compared with 2024 and 1% below previous estimates. Moreover, we anticipate airlines flying more people and more cargo in 2025 than they did in 2024, even if previous demand projections have been dented by trade tensions and falls in consumer confidence. The result is an improvement of net margins from 3.4% in 2024 to 3.7% in 2025. That’s still about half the average profitability across all industries. But considering the headwinds, it’s a strong result that demonstrates the resilience that airlines have worked hard to fortify,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
“Perspective is critical to put into context such large industry-wide aggregate figures. Earning a $36 billion profit is significant. But that equates to just $7.20 per passenger per segment. It’s still a thin buffer and any new tax, increase in airport or navigation charge, demand shock or costly regulation will quickly put the industry’s resilience to the test. Policymakers who rely on airlines as the core of a value chain that employs 86.5 million people and supports 3.9% of global economic activity, must keep this clearly in focus,” said Walsh.
Source: IATA
In this week’s AFM Pilot Training Leadership Interview Series we speak with Giovanni Pascale Langer – Managing Director at Tecnam Aircraft – an Italy headquartered aircraft manufacturer known for producing light, efficient, and innovative next-generation piston aircraft which have gained popularity with flight training organizations around the world.
The conversation covers:
For more information:
You can find all of the AFM.aero Pilot Training Industry Interview Episodes here.
To stay up to date and get notified about all of the latest episodes from AFM you can follow us through the below platforms:
Vietnam & Kazakhstan – Vietnamese low-cost carrier Vietjet Air and Kazakh regional airline Qazaq Air have announced the formation of a new joint venture airline, Vietjet Qazaqstan, which will operate a fleet of at least 20 Boeing 737 aircraft. The new airline aims to enhance air connectivity between Kazakhstan, Vietnam, and the broader Southeast Asian region.
Vietjet Qazaqstan was officially unveiled at the Kazakhstan–Vietnam Business Roundtable on May 6, 2025, during a state visit by Vietnamese General Secretary To Lam.
The airline will be built upon Qazaq Air’s existing platform and supported by Vietjet’s operational and digital expertise.
Vietjet’s subsidiary, Aviation Holdings, has received a Foreign Investment Registration Certificate from Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance to acquire a strategic stake in Qazaq Air.
Boeing and Vietjet Qazaqstan signed a Customer Services General Terms Agreement, covering spare parts, software solutions, technical support, and crew training for the incoming B737 fleet.
Source: Vietjet AIr
Global – CAE announced that it has rebranded its portfolio of airline operations solutions to Flightscape – Powered by CAE. Flightscape is a data-driven platform for airlines that provides real-time insights to improve operational performance. With Flightscape, CAE is ushering in a new era in operational intelligence, empowering all Operations Control Centre (OCC) stakeholders to prevent disruptions and adapt seamlessly when challenges arise, to optimize operations and costs in even the most complex and time-sensitive situations.
“Flightscape is the ultimate decision-making platform for airlines, powered by CAE. In a dynamic operating environment, airlines need to seize every opportunity to improve performance, reduce costs and optimize resources while enhancing the passenger experience,” said Pascal Grenier, Division President, Flightscape, Airline Operations Solutions. “Flightscape provides real-time insights that enable airlines to adapt to ever-changing conditions. We recognize that our customers aren’t just buying a solution, they are choosing a long-term partner and our objective with Flightscape is to ensure our airline partners have advanced solutions to optimize their operations.”
Flightscape is the next chapter for CAE’s operations platform. Since entering the airline operations market three years ago, CAE has transformed the business and has put customers at the heart of everything it does. The company has invested significantly in its solutions and growing its airline OCC offering into a unified, modular platform that can scale with evolving needs. It has also strengthened its implementation process and customer service globally to ensure long-term success of its airline partners, including French regional airline, HOP! where Flightscape’s Operations Control solution was successfully implemented earlier this year.
“The implementation of our first module, Flightscape’s Operations Control solution was completed in the first quarter of this year, and we could not be more pleased with the results and impressed by the successful and customized implementation process,” said Eric Chaumette, Chief Information Officer of HOP!. Two more modules, Crew Manager and Crew Planner, are expected to go live in late 2025, a process overseen by a dedicated onboarding team. “This represents a technological transformation for us, as we were using old systems that were locally hosted. Moving to Flightscape’s cloud-based solution – which is continuously updated – we feel confident this new system is setting us up to be more cost-effective, reactive and proactive going forward, while maintaining a high passenger experience level.”
Built on a modular architecture, Flightscape enables airlines to deploy the solutions they need for operations control, crew management, flight management, airport management, and in-flight service management. Flightscape’s Unified Task Board integrates data from multiple OCC systems to streamline critical decision-making and boost operational efficiency during time-critical situations. Delivered as a cloud-native SaaS, the Flightscape portfolio provides a more agile, cost-effective, and future-proof solution than proprietary software, ensuring continuous access to the latest features, security updates, and regulatory compliance without manual intervention. The system integrates easily with existing tools via secure APIs, and its architecture adapts to evolving technologies, making it a long-term, low-risk investment for modern airline operations.
About HOP!
HOP! is 100% owned by AIR FRANCE. The company provides flight hours in ACMI on behalf of Air France and offers more than 60 destinations in France and Europe. Flights, mainly to and from the Hubs at Roissy-CDG and Lyon, are operated regularly at times suited to business travellers and leisure customers alike. HOP’s Maintenance and Engineering Division carries out all maintenance of the airline’s fleet thanks to expertise acquired over more than 20 years of work on regional aircraft. It proposes engineering services, base maintenance and major maintenance inspections to other airlines operating regional aircraft. HOP!, which is Part-CAMO, Part-21-J, Part-147 and Part-145 approved, also operates an aircraft maintenance technician training centre in Clermont-Ferrand.
About CAE
At CAE, we equip people in critical roles with the expertise and solutions to create a safer world. As a technology company, we digitalize the physical world, deploying software-based simulation training and critical operations support solutions. Above all else, we empower pilots, cabin crew, maintenance technicians, airlines, business aviation operators, and defence and security forces to perform at their best every day and when the stakes are the highest. Around the globe, we’re everywhere customers need us to be with approximately 13,000 employees in more than 240 sites and training locations in over 40 countries. CAE represents more than 75 years of industry firsts—the highest-fidelity flight and mission simulators as well as training programs powered by digital technologies. We embed sustainability in everything we do. Today and tomorrow, we’ll make sure our customers are ready for the moments that matter.
Source: CAE
Photo Credit: CAE
Global – In April 2025, aircraft manufacturer Airbus:
In March 2025, Airbus reported 71 aircraft deliveries and 211 aircraft orders.
AFM Team Note – kindly contact us for a detailed Excel breakdown of orders and deliveries by airline.
Source: Airbus
Photo Credit: Airbus
