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The International Air Transport Association has raised the alarm that over 400 airports across the world lack the capacity to meet the demand for air connectivity, according to its global airport slot guideline.

The global transport regulators added that if this continues, the number of the lagging airports will rise by 25 per cent, swelling the number of aerodromes constituting threats to global air travel freedom and economic growth to 500.

IATA made this known through its newly released white paper, a link to which was posted on its verified X handle on Thursday.

With infrastructure expansion lagging behind increasing demand, IATA has proposed stricter slot regulations to encourage airports to maximise capacity using existing resources, according to a post on the association’s X handle.

Hinting that the impending issue could grow by 25 per cent over the next decade, the association pointed out Europe, where Airports Council International Europe projects that up to 12 per cent of air travel demand will remain unmet by 2050 due to infrastructure limitations.

The position paper reads partly, “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 per cent 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 per cent 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.”

IATA further stated that it is therefore vital that airports deploy best practices to deliver as much capacity from existing infrastructure as possible.

According to Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety, and Security, Nick Careen, 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 maximising capacity, too many fail to follow the guidance in the Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines.

The IATA White Paper calls for stronger obligations on airports to optimise capacity, ensuring they match airlines’ efforts to maximise operational efficiency. Current slot regulations place penalties on airlines for underutilising slots but impose no equivalent accountability on airports.

Addressing the imbalance, IATA advised airports to periodically review and update capacity declarations, supported by transparent consultations to identify neglected opportunities for improvement.

The association reiterated its commitment to advocating airline and passenger interests, with its mission to represent, lead, and serve the aviation industry.

The vice president insisted that slot 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.