Global aviation executives meeting ahead of this week’s Singapore Airshow warned that persistent supply-chain disruptions and rising geopolitical tensions are slowing industry growth, even as airlines reaffirm commitments to cut emissions, Reuters reported Monday.
The head of the International Air Transport Association said manufacturing and maintenance bottlenecks continue to weigh on airlines and are unlikely to ease quickly. Willie Walsh told delegates at the Changi Aviation Summit that ongoing disruptions are still having a significant operational and financial impact on the sector.
Aircraft manufacturers Airbus (EADSF) (EADSY) and Boeing (BA) remain constrained by post-pandemic supply issues, while engine makers GE Aerospace (GE) and RTX’s Pratt & Whitney (RTX) are balancing new-plane production with maintenance demands from in-service fleets.
Walsh said geopolitical shifts, including U.S. import tariffs, have hit air cargo harder than passenger travel. Cargo volumes between Asia and North America fell slightly last year, while traffic between Europe and Asia posted strong growth. Despite these challenges, Asia-Pacific remains the fastest-growing aviation market, with passenger traffic projected to rise more than 7% in 2026, driven largely by China and India.
Newly elected International Civil Aviation Organization council president Toshiyuki Onuma warned that the industry will struggle to accommodate future demand without coordinated reform, noting that today’s systems were not built to handle a tripling of global passenger volumes. He also urged faster progress toward the sector’s 2050 net-zero emissions target, Reuters reported.
Concerns about politicization of aviation standards also surfaced. Onuma declined to comment directly on pressure from Donald Trump over certification of certain Gulfstream Aerospace (GD) aircraft, emphasizing that ICAO must remain technically neutral. European officials echoed warnings that supply chains risk becoming tools of geopolitical leverage, with aerospace executives flagging rare earth metals, dominated by China, as a continuing vulnerability for jet-engine production.