The boss of Iata has hit out at governments for failing to ensure sufficient capacity in the air and on the ground.
Director general and chief executive Tony Tyler, speaking at the EU-ASEAN Aviation Summit in Singapore, called on states to focus on ensuring sufficient capacity.
“With some exceptions, Europe is not providing a good example in providing sufficient capacity for either air traffic management or airports,” said Tyler.
“The ‘Single European Sky’ is decades delayed. And recent studies point to a potential 12% shortfall in airport capacity by 2030.”
There is no room for complacency in Asia either, he added.
“There are discussions around a Seamless Asian Sky that will help deliver efficiencies in the current framework. But with the growth that the region is expecting, the discussion will need to move fairly quickly beyond the current scope in order to handle projected growth,” said Tyler.
“And I would make similar comments with respect to airports. Asia is well known for its world-leading airport infrastructure in some markets – Singapore among them.
“But the Philippines and Indonesia are far behind. And even the capacity constraints in markets that need to be connected to ASEAN could impact growth.
“I have already mentioned the problems in Europe, and the shortfalls in key Indian markets such as Mumbai could negatively impact connectivity as well.
“I am optimistic. But that optimism needs to be supported by a long-term policy vision backed up by concrete action.”