IATA boss Willie Walsh has the consumer aviation industry should grow by around 3.3% per year over the next 20 years.
While this is significantly slower than the growth the industry saw between 2010 and 2019, Mr Walsh said that reflects the huge challenges seen in recent years.
Speaking at the Changi Aviation Summit in Singapore, Mr Walsh – director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – said that the future of the industry remains bright; both in terms of general growth and adaption to the climate crisis.
On the latter, he warned that the cost of achieving net zero emissions would be higher air fares, which “will have a dampening effect on the level of growth that the industry sees going forward.”
In his speech at the Summit, Mr Walsh said: “Technology, labour issues, all of these are fascinating opportunities for the industry going forward. But as I stand and look at the future of this industry, I’m very confident that we can overcome all of the challenges that we’re likely to face. We can take confidence in our ability to overcome some significant challenges in recent times. And working together, with the right policy frameworks in place from governments, the industry has a very credible path to achieving all of the necessary measures to ensure that we are net zero in 2050.”
He added: “This industry is absolutely committed to achieving net zero CO2 in 2050. And we cannot fail or falter in our efforts to achieve that goal. It is absolutely essential that we work together to ensure that we can credibly provide people with confidence that we have a pathway to decarbonize our industry. And I think we can take a lot of confidence from what we’ve achieved already. And we’ve talked about this in many different forums.”
