Asia-Pacific airline leaders see continued high fuel costs and disruption, but sustained strong demand

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Travellers continue to fly despite higher ticket prices as AI drives air cargo demand

Travellers continue to fly despite higher ticket prices as AI drives air cargo demand

[KUALA LUMPUR] Airline business leaders expect difficult conditions, including high energy prices and supply chain issues, for the aviation industry in 2026 to continue. However, they are also confident that passenger and air cargo demand will remain strong.

Executives of regional airlines were speaking at a leadership panel at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Assembly of Presidents in Kuala Lumpur on Friday (Nov 13).

The regional airline trade association, which has 17 members including Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways, marked the 70th iteration of its leaders’ assembly.

Lam and other airline executives were responding to a question on whether high oil prices and disruptions to air travel seen in 2026 constitute a “new normal”.

Mike Williams, chief operations officer of technical operations for Air New Zealand, said: “I think it is (the new normal) – fuel prices, pandemics, geopolitical situations, politics, inflation and supply chain uncertainties.” Ibrahim Canliel, CEO of Kazakhstan’s flag carrier Air Astana, said the world is unlikely to go back to the conditions prior to the outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, which blocked airspace and caused crude oil and aviation fuel prices to spike.

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“The uncertainty (means) that we just need to have the agility and the resilience to be able to anticipate, to react and take mitigating actions,” he added.

Skyrocketing oil and fuel prices have forced airlines to change, in some cases handing on costs to consumers, but the leaders remained positive about demand for air travel and cargo despite this.

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