From Vision to Value: The Next Era of Air Travel
Good morning, and welcome to the 2026 IATA World Financial Symposium and World Passenger Symposium – the first to be held in North Asia.
It is a pleasure to be in Macao. Let me welcome our distinguished guest Stanley Pun, President of the Civil Aviation Authority, Macao and thank him for joining us today.
China’s importance to global aviation is clear. Last year, its airlines carried more than 770 million passengers, a new record. Yet the opportunity ahead is even greater. China has enormous potential for further growth in air travel. Capturing that opportunity will require continued investment, particularly in technology that can support growth while making travel simpler, more sustainable, and more efficient.
But China’s leadership is not only about scale. It has also been at the forefront of digital innovation, changing how people shop, pay, and travel.
That makes this location a fitting place for the discussions we will have over the next two days. We will hear from Chinese airline leaders about their experience, alongside perspectives from many other airlines and industry partners around the world.
Aviation is a global industry which is why we must keep our solutions global and connected. How can we do this? By having one set of global standards and evolving them as technology advances. That is how we turn local progress into a better experience for passengers worldwide.
End-to-end collaboration was a key theme at last year’s symposium.
2026
What has happened since then? 2026 has been a year of intense volatility. Conflicts have closed some airspace and disrupted many routes. Fuel prices have risen sharply. And aerospace supply chains are still not back to normal.
Every CEO, CFO, commercial, and operations leader in this room is having to make decisions in a way more volatile world.
And you must manage on very-thin margins. Airlines carry more than five billion passengers a year and are expected to earn just US$4.50 per passenger in 2026, which a net margin of around only 2%. A small rise in costs or fall in demand can turn profit into loss.
You are being asked to deliver two things at the same time: #1 protect today's results and #2 build tomorrow’s solutions that will make your airlines successful in the years to come. Leveraging new technology is an important part of this. Many of the new solutions we have talked about for years have moved from concept to reality.
Today, a traveler can use AI to plan a trip, pay with a digital wallet and use biometrics for a more seamless journey at the airport.
The challenge now is realizing the value these technologies create.
This is why the theme of our conference is: From Vision to Value. And I would like to suggest three simple tests to evaluate this:
- How much does it strengthen our ability to succeed in the marketplace of the future?
- How much does it contribute to sustainable financial returns?
- And how much does it improve the passenger journey?
Test one: How much does it strengthen our ability to succeed in the marketplace of the future?
The marketplace is evolving fast. Very fast.
AI assistants and automated agents are changing how travelers discover and compare travel. For airlines, that creates opportunity, but also risk.
The strategic opportunity for airlines is to prepare for this shift while, retaining control of their data, retaining control of their commercial relationships and ensuring the underlying quality of data.
This makes Modern Airline Retailing more important than ever. Seven airlines are already live or implementing Orders, with more than 20 expected to follow from 2027. IT providers have committed more than $1.7 billion to Offers and Orders.
Put simply, Offers and Orders provide the foundation; AI is the accelerator. They need to move forward together as AI increasingly reshapes how travel is discovered, sold, and serviced.
Succeeding in the marketplace of the future is the first test. The second is whether that success translates into sustainable financial performance.
Test two: How much does it contribute to sustainable financial returns?
Volatility reaches airlines in three places at once. In terms of revenue, as routes are disrupted. In terms of costs, with jet fuel prices more than doubling year-on-year. And in terms of the cost of capital, as financing becomes more expensive.
The result is pressure on airlines’ capacity to invest for the future. Innovation has to improve the financial sustainability of airlines longer term.
Let’s take payments as an example: every new way to pay can improve choice for the customer. It also impacts cost, cash flow, and risk level. Airlines already spend more than $24.5 billion a year on payments, so these decisions need to be weighed together.
The same principle applies to the move to Offers and Orders. Finance cannot be an afterthought.
Reconciliation, settlement, and revenue accounting must be built in from the start. Otherwise, we risk digitizing complexity rather than removing it.
The first two tests are about airlines.
Test three: How much does it improve the passenger journey?
The third is the one passengers apply themselves. How much does it improve their journey?
On this test, some innovations are already passing. Let me highlight two:
The first is biometrics. What began as a series of trials and pilot projects is increasingly becoming part of the normal travel experience. Where biometrics are implemented well, they can make airport processing faster and more seamless. The technology works, and passengers like it.
But today, many of these solutions work airport by airport, and the benefits often stop at the border.
The industry's answer is One ID: confirm your identity once, and be recognized throughout the journey.
I am delighted to be able to announce today that Hong Kong International Airport and Air New Zealand have become the first organizations to achieve One ID certification, demonstrating that trusted, interoperable digital identity can work in practice.
This is exactly the kind of partnership that turns a good idea into the normal way to travel.
But One ID can only go so far on its own. A seamless journey across borders depends on governments trusting and accepting the underlying digital identity.
That brings me to my second example: the digital passport.
ICAO has developed specifications for Digital Travel Credentials, these are secure digital versions of the passport. And passengers are ready. More than eight in ten are interested in using a digital passport to check in.
But airlines cannot issue passports. Only governments can. Digital passports will only change international travel when governments are ready to issue them and accept them.
These examples serve as a reminder to us that innovation is rarely delivered by one organization acting alone. It requires industry, governments, and technology partners moving in the same direction. This is something we said last year and that is still needed.
Conclusion
The next two days will focus on how we can:
- Enable airlines and industry to compete in the marketplace of the future;
- Ensure airlines remain financially sustainable and able to invest; and
- Make travel easier for passengers.
If we focus on these three objectives, we will leave Macao with a vision and a clearer path to deliver value.
I wish you a very fruitful and productive conference, thank you.
