Dear Colleagues, Partners, and Friends in Aviation & Tourism,
As we approach the festive season and bring 2025 to a close, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continued support and confidence in AirlinePros Inc., and wish to share my genuine optimism for the promising year ahead.
Like every year in our industry, we have been tested in many ways, but we have been blessed with its continued resilience, adaptability, and capacity for reinvention. On behalf of all our global teams, I wish to share my reflections, give thanks, and outline our shared path forward with a clear sense of purpose.
2025 makes it two decades since I joined James Foster on this journey of building a network of ex-airline professionals with the objective of giving back to the industry that I grew up in, and one that made me who I am. 20 years later, the jet-fuel is still in my veins, and I must say I still love what I do, despite all the challenges of an industry where there is never a dull day! I hope that I can continue contributing to it for a few more years.
2025 was a pivotal year in the growth of AirlinePros, and we decided to become an IATA Strategic Partner and an Associate Member of AFRAA, the African Airlines Association, in addition to our Associate Membership of AASA, the Airlines Association of Southern Africa.
As our company name reflects literally, AirlinePros is a group of ex-airline professionals from across the globe, with years of experience and expertise that can be shared from the ground up. Globally today, AirlinePros is positioned as a credible and forward-thinking voice that is a trusted source of insights and a contributor to meaningful dialogues in the areas of distribution and commercial solutions, financial & risk management, data & technology, sustainability & economics as the future of aviation and tourism unfolds.
2025 marks 20 years of our partnership with ARC – the Airlines Reporting Corporation – in the USA, which started in October 2005. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank them for the 20 years of continued support provided to us through all the good and bad times that we have faced together in our industry.
2025 has reminded us that aviation, and tourism, is not just about planes or profits, but about connectivity: connecting people, economies, and cultures.
Industry Overview
IATA says the global airline industry revenues are projected to exceed US$1 trillion in 2025, with net profit estimated at US$39.5 billion, which represents a net profit margin of only 3.9% or US$7.70 per passenger! Global passenger load factors have been at levels of over 80% (all-time highs) since 2023 and are forecast to rise to 83.7% in 2026. Global air travel demand is much in line with average global GDP growth greater than 3%. For example, October 2025 saw a 6.6% increase in global air traffic versus the prior year.
However, there are steep deviations from this average in the different regional blocks. 2026 is expected to follow a similar pattern, with Europe projected to return the maximum revenues, followed by the Americas, then the Middle East, where the hub carrier business sustains profitability with high margins per passenger. Asia-Pacific has the highest passenger demand with intra-regional traffic, and finally Africa, with the lowest margins globally due to high operating costs, older fleets, and high fuel costs, is set to move forward positively with SAATM – the Single African Air Transport Market initiative. We see the light at the end of the tunnel with substantial growth being projected as countries are adopting it.
The AirlinePros Journey
2024 was a good year for AirlinePros, as we modestly expanded our network and our client base, and, in 2025, we continued this trend, maintaining stable and sustainable growth with over 60 new client contracts, meeting our goals of geographical expansion and diversifying our portfolio of products and services. Our foray into three new complementary products, other than our traditional airline representation and GSA services, is being gradually deployed through our global offices. The ‘Travel Partnerships by AirlinePros’ is set to provide representation for destinations, events and activities in multiple global markets. A program, ‘AirlinePros Airport Support Services’ for airlines flying into new markets, is in the pilot phase, while the stage is set to embark on the ‘AirlinePros Cargo GSSA Services’.
Finally, we have gone live with Flyingcarpet.travel – a Digital Destination Marketing Portal for magical experiences and personalized itinerary building.
Flyingcarpet.travel is slowly building momentum. Apart from showcasing destinations, the portal offers ways to get there: it has numerous flight options that can get you to the destinations and then recommends where to stay when you get there, with many hotel options. It goes on to ‘what to do when you are there?’ There are many options for different types of activities that you can do while there.
The Flyingcarpet.travel portal brings together Aviation and Tourism in one ecosystem. The ‘Aladdin’s World Program’ offers National Tourism Offices (NTOs) visibility to showcase their country, along with their SMEs and any other unique content to promote travelers or investors to the country. The portal also has a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, ‘Support Through Travel Program’, for NGOs, PBOs, religious organizations, and other organizations that have a large travel component in their services.
2025 has reminded us that aviation and tourism are not just about planes or profits, but about connectivity: connecting people, economies, and cultures. I was able to visit and connect with a few of our global partners in 2025 including UAE, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, South Korea, China, Japan, India and Thailand. I hope to visit some more of you during the year ahead.
I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate our award winners – the Tenacity Award – Sudha K for her proficiency and diligence in managing everything that is thrown her way consistently and never giving up; the Elevate Award – Rebecca Meadows for her role in inspiring, directing, supporting and growing people within the Network; and the High Flyer Award – Hellen Mwamba, for achieving the biggest global impact among the AirlinePros Network!
As 2026 dawns, let us embrace collaboration, innovation, and a shared responsibility for sustainable growth in aviation, and tourism.
To all our airline partners, airport authorities, travel and tourism stakeholders, and every member of the aviation-tourism ecosystem: thank you. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, and your resilience. Let’s continue to fly together, soar, and shine.
Wishing you, your teams, and your loved ones a peaceful holiday season and a prosperous, sustainable new year.
Sincerely,
Achma Asokan Foster
Group CEO, AirlinePros Incorporated.
‘We are ‘Living it, Loving it – The AirlinePros Way’
