The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has raised the alarm over the growing airport capacity crunch, threatening global air travel freedom and economic growth.
With infrastructure expansion lagging behind increasing demand, IATA has proposed stricter slot regulations to encourage airports to maximize capacity using existing resources, according to a post on the association’s X handle.
In its newly released White Paper, IATA highlights that nearly 400 airports worldwide are now unable to meet the demand for air connectivity, relying on slot coordination under the IATA Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines. If the trend continues, this number is expected to rise by 25% within the next decade.
The association noted a stark example of the issue is Europe, where Airports Council International (ACI) Europe projects that up to 12% of air travel demand will remain unmet by 2050 due to infrastructure limitations.
“The number of airports unable to fully meet the demand for air connectivity and requiring slot coordination using the IATA Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines has already grown to nearly 400 worldwide. If current trends prevail, this number could grow by 25% over the next decade.
“An example of the severe consequences of this growing problem is evident in Europe where Airports Council International (ACI) Europe expects that airport infrastructure will be unable to meet up to 12% of demand in 2050,”
Political constraints on large-scale airport developments, such as new runways, exacerbate the problem, potentially undermining Europe’s economic competitiveness. The Draghi report has already highlighted significant underperformance in this area.
The IATA stated that it is therefore vital that airports deploy best practice to deliver as much capacity from existing infrastructure as possible.
According to Nick CarpracticesA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety, and Security, the only cure for insufficient capacity is construction. “But as long as large-scale endeavours such as building new runways or terminals remain politically out-of-reach in many parts of the world, we must squeeze every last unit of capacity out of the infrastructure we have,”
He added that while some airports set strong benchmarks for maximizing capacity, but too many fail to follow the guidance in the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines.
The IATA White Pacalls for stronger obligations on airports to optimize capacity, ensuring they match airlines’ efforts to maximize operational efficiency. Current slot regulations place penalties on airlines for under-utilizing slots but impose no equivalent accountability on airports.
To address this imbalance, IATA advised airports to periodically review and update capacity declarations, supported by transparent consultations to identify neglected opportunities for improvement.
Adopt best practices to increase efficiency and enhance capacity where possible and consequences should be introduced if declared capacities are not delivered as promised.
According to IATA, strengthening airport performance obligations is essential to sustaining the benefits of the current slot system, which has delivered greater connectivity, consumer choice, and affordable fares.
The association reiterated its commitment to advocating for airline and passenger interests, with its mission to represent, lead, and serve the aviation industry.
“The current airport slots regulations have helped create a global air transport network which delivers ever-increasing connectivity, consumer choice, and cheaper fares. For the slot system to continue growing these benefits, we need performance obligations on airports. Stronger regulation is needed to close the enormous gap between the best and the mediocre airports in delivering capacity. That will give better service to passengers with greater accessibility to air transport and bring more benefits to the world,” Careen said.
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