The report documents customer-led changes in global travel including border clearance in around 10 seconds, weather delays reduced by up to 65%, lost luggage down by 90% in specific use cases, and AI supporting operational efficiency.
According to IATA, the industry will carry 8 billion passengers a year within 20 to 25 years and is heading toward 10 billion passengers annually by 2050.
Drawn from a year of work with airlines, airports, governments and travel partners worldwide, SITA’s Impact Report 2025 tracks how technology is becoming a principal way for the industry to add capacity, manage disruption and reduce its environmental footprint.
David Lavorel, CEO of SITA, said: “With passenger numbers heading toward 10 billion a year by 2050, the question is unavoidable: how do we move twice as many travelers without doubling our infrastructure? The SITA Impact Report 2025 shows how that shift is already underway. Airports are scaling capacity within the buildings they already have, avoiding the cost and timelines of new construction. Governments are clearing borders before passengers ever reach a queue or an officer’s booth. AI is moving out of pilot programs and into the operations rooms where flights are run. None of this is one company’s achievement. It is a shared tech transformation, where airlines, airports, governments and partners are powering the future of air transport together.”
Some of the most visible changes identified in the report are at the border. In Aruba, pre-cleared passengers complete border processing on arrival in as little as 8 seconds, 78% faster than before, by combining digital travel credentials with biometric checks.
Behind these visible shifts, more than 271 million travellers a year now receive a risk assessment supported by SITA before they arrive, with most completed in under four seconds.
AI is also moving from trials into live operations. SITA OptiFlight uses machine learning and digital-twin modelling to recommend fuel-efficient climb and cruise profiles to pilots.
In 2025, SITA OptiFlight processed 2.9 million flights for 59 airline customers, saving 127,732 tons of fuel and the equivalent of 403,633 tons of CO₂.
At Toronto Pearson and Abu Dhabi Airports, AI-driven Total Airport Management tools are recovering minutes per turnaround, with gains that compound across the day.
At Thai Airways, AI-driven routing in SITA WorldTracer Auto Reflight automatically rebooks mishandled bags onto the next viable flight, cutting reconciliation from three minutes to one second.s
The report also highlights how technology can support network resilience during disruption. In a 2025 proof of concept at France’s Reims Control Centre, air navigation service provider DSNA gave controllers the same live weather picture used by pilots and dispatchers.
According to SITA, the proof of concept cut weather-driven delays by up to 65% and saved up to 105,000 delay minutes over 21 days of weather-affected operations.
When the 2025 CrowdStrike outage disrupted airline systems globally, more than 460 flights kept running on SITA Maestro DCS.
At Hajj 2025, SITA’s around-the-clock operational support and automated incident management kept airline and airport systems running with zero downtime and zero major incidents.
Across the rest of the passenger journey, the report identifies further changes in baggage handling and airport infrastructure.
Lost luggage has fallen for airlines participating in SITA’s partnership with Apple, now joined by Google. For bags equipped with an Apple AirTag, the number of truly lost bags fell by 90% when location sharing was used through SITA WorldTracer.
In Europe, Frankfurt Airport‘s new Terminal 3, designed to handle up to 19 million passengers a year in its initial phase, was delivered around a digital-first common use design developed with SITA and CCM.
The report also links SITA’s customer relationships with its financial performance. Revenue grew 7% to US$1.71 billion in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive year of 7% to 8% growth.
SITA reported continued R&D investment, the strategic acquisition of airport interior design company CCM, and multimillion-dollar co-innovation with more than 30 customers through SITA Labs.
On sustainability, SITA cut emissions by 1.3% year on year, bringing total reductions to 32% against a 2019 base year.
SITA now sources 90% renewable electricity across its offices worldwide.
Tags: David Lavorel, SITA
