Aviation in the Asia-Pacific: Key Challenges for 2025

The Asia-Pacific region is rapidly becoming the world’s aviation powerhouse.

It’s being driven by a post-pandemic travel surge and booming middle classes in countries like China, India and Vietnam. Passenger demand in the region soared by 26.6% in 2024 alone.

But as airlines race to expand their networks and governments invest in infrastructure, a critical question looms: can the aviation system keep pace – safely?

While air travel remains statistically the safest mode of transport, recent high-profile crashes and a spike in global aviation fatalities have highlighted mounting challenges.

From staffing shortages to congested airports and aging infrastructure, the Asia-Pacific’s aviation sector faces serious headwinds in 2025. Here’s what’s at stake.

Capacity straining to meet rising consumer demand

The Asia-Pacific region is on track to serve more than half the world’s air passengers by 2040 – namely, around 19.5 billion people.

Low-cost carriers like IndiGo and AirAsia are expanding aggressively, and legacy airlines such as Qantas and Emirates are deepening their Pacific Rim presence.

But this rapid growth is bumping up against hard physical limits.

China’s major airports are struggling to accommodate increased air traffic, with limited runway slots hampering new routes.

Although major infrastructure investments (such as Changi Airport’s expansion to a third runway and new terminal) are great signposts, the current bottlenecks are real and growing.

Safety at risk because of pilot and technician shortages

According to the Asia Pacific Centre for Aviation Safety, the shortage of skilled aviation personnel has become one of the region’s most urgent concerns.

But it’s not just pilots who are in short supply. Maintenance technicians and air traffic controllers are also in critically low numbers.

To cope, some airlines have lowered the flight-hour requirements for promotions. For example, Cathay Pacific reduced the hours needed to become a captain from 4,000 to 3,000.

This may alleviate short-term staffing crunches. But it is a band-aid solution. Indeed, it has sparked concerns over a drop in overall pilot experience levels – and, by extension, flight safety.

A crisis of air traffic control

An alarming development is the Asia-Pacific’s increasing reliance on what are arguably makeshift safety measures in the skies – namely, the Traffic Information Broadcast by Aircraft (TIBA).

In early 2025, parts of Eastern Australia were forced to rely on TIBA procedures due to a lack of available air traffic controllers.

TIBA, usually reserved for when you can’t use an Air Traffic Control service, places the onus on pilots to communicate directly with one another to maintain safe separation.

While effective in emergencies, its regular use in a developed region like Australia is a red flag that the air traffic control system is being stretched to its limits – especially if the Asia-Pacific relies on it more.

Future-proofing aviation safety in the Asia-Pacific will require investment and innovation

Industry leaders agree that maintaining high safety standards will require sustained, coordinated investment.

That means not just building bigger airports, but also investing in human capital—training more pilots, engineers and air traffic controllers, and making those careers more attractive.

Governments and airlines alike must also embrace innovation, whether that’s in digital air traffic management, aircraft design, or simulation-based pilot training.

Our team at Avlaw Aviation Consulting Avlaw is an established provider of specialist aviation consultancy services in the Asia Pacific region.