The air travel industry’s environment is constantly changing, and 2025 will be a year of transition for airlines and airports.

There is much more to come in the future, including green flying, better customer satisfaction, improved airport facilities, and services such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence.

Bridging the Gap: sustainable aviation with existing fleets

The aviation industry is currently transitioning because of the advancement of high-technology aircraft and the increasing focus on eco-friendly aircraft.

Sustainability is a major consideration, best illustrated by the Airbus A321XLR. Next year, airlines will likely focus on fleet renewal with such aircraft.

Not even the Airbus A380, which was earlier expected to be phased out, is out of fashion now;

Lufthansa
and

Qantas have decided to bring the giant back into action on important routes
.

This resurgence, however, will bring into focus the issues of demand and supply on the one hand and fuel efficiency on the other, as the A380 is a far more fuel guzzler than the more modern planes.

Qantas A380 shutterstock_285018890

Photo: Mehdi Photos | Shutterstock

United Airlines has signed an agreement with Phillips 66
to purchase at least 3.6 million gallons of SAF for Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International Airports.

This could grow to more than 8 million gallons, which will help United to achieve its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and its position as the largest investor in SAF in 2025.

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Improved in-flight passenger experience

Carriers will be more dedicated to developing premium cabins and improving the travel experience. Delta Air Lines’ new cabin design will be rolled out on a widebody Airbus for long-haul international routes in early 2025, with other planes to be modified over the subsequent years depending on the availability of schedules.

Delta’s new cabin design was already introduced this year on a Boeing 757 for domestic and short international flights.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900 taxiing at Tokyo Narita International Airport NRT shutterstock_1451961671

Photo: Phuong D. Nguyen | Shutterstock

In the winter of 2025, Air France will complete the launch of its redesigned La Première cabin, boasting the longest configuration on the market with five windows.

Passengers will enjoy up to three modular and fully private living spaces, including a seat, a chaise lounge, and a flatbed. This new layout will also expand La Première’s availability across more aircraft.

Swiss International Air Lines will take a more holistic approach, introducing its “Swiss Senses” cabin concept next year. This concept incorporates not only refreshed lie-flat seats with personalized temperature controls but also a sophisticated color palette and even a signature scent to create a unique and elegant atmosphere.

Beyond hardware, personalization will be the next big thing, with Delta Air Lines investing in tailored in-flight entertainment systems where passengers can stream movies and TV shows on their own devices and get recommendations for what they might like, OAG.

Lufthansa Group is also considering using passenger data for passengers’ consent for using Lufthansa Group Travel ID to provide services like meal and seat preferences through the app and digital platforms, aiming to proactively meet the passenger’s needs.

Lufthansa Airbus A320 shutterstock_2303949153

Photo: Gabe Smith | Shutterstock

Another area of concern will be connectivity;

IAG, a subsidiary of British Airways, is currently in talks with Starlink
to provide its planes with the company’s inflight WiFi service. IAG is also considering other opportunities, such as Kuiper Systems of Amazon.

United Airlines had already announced in September 2024 that it had signed an agreement with Elon Musk’s company to provide Starlink WiFi on board its fleet.

New airport tech: will it really take off by 2025?

AI, biometrics, and automation will possibly change the airport experience by 2025. With biometric boarding, your body will likely become the boarding pass next year.

No more passports and boarding passes. Instead, facial recognition, fingerprint scans, and even iris scans will perhaps enable passengers to clear security and boarding channels. This technology is believed to improve efficiency, security, and customer experience in the coming years.

Detailed, announced trials or service entries of this new tech in 2025 are scarce, since this type of information is usually concealed until the time is near. However, we can try to guess and look at tendencies currently observed worldwide.

For example, Delta Air Lines has implemented facial recognition in passengers’ interactions at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), including baggage drop and boarding, according to Cities Today.

shutterstock_2458228925-2
Photo: Nordic Studio at Shutterstock | Shutterstock | Simpleflying

Imagine coming to the security checkpoint, looking at the camera, and being recognized without showing your ID or boarding pass.

At the boarding gate, a simple face scan, similar to the ‘FaceBoarding’ that has already been adopted at SEA Milan Airports (LIN), will verify your identity and let you on the plane, according to International Airport Review.

This is also in process at Orlando International Airport (MCO), where biometric exit technology is being used in partnership with CBP.

Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) have also pioneered biometrics at various touchpoints of the passenger journey.

Another major potential change is expected to be the higher level of baggage handling automation.

In 2025, automated ground transport vehicles will likely help operators transport luggage from terminals to planes, improving productivity and cutting employment expenses.

Luggage and Aircraft in Background Shutterstock

Photo: ImYanis/Shutterstock

Imagine small, driverless electric vehicles such as the Aurrigo Auto-DollyTug®, currently being piloted at Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), transporting luggage carts from the baggage claim area to the aircraft on the apron.

These vehicles would move around the airport independently, detecting and avoiding various objects and people on their way to deliver baggage.

Next year we might also see the Toyota company Vanderlande continue to expand its FLEET system (which utilizes AMRs for baggage transport) in more airports.

By 2024, the largest airport with the Vanderlande FLEET system is Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTHA). They started live operations with the FLEET system in November 2018 and still employ it.

Furthermore, Vanderlande’s FLEET system has been installed at the Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport in the Terminal D recheck area for transfer baggage.

Last but not least, AI-integrated flight scheduling will probably build better schedules and reduce the chances of delays. AI would help in the best flight planning by using data on weather conditions, traffic in the sky, and passenger traffic.

Departure board at Frankfurt Airport FRA shutterstock_525928906

Photo: Pradeep Thomas Thundiyil | Shutterstock

AI could forecast how many passengers a flight will likely carry and, therefore, reposition crews and aircraft most efficiently and prevent last-minute crises and possible delays.

For example, Ryanair started collaborating with Optifly in 2020 and applied AI to raise the number of daily flights per aircraft and improve effectiveness, KMPG reported.

These AI tools will also help with weather forecasting. When a storm is likely to affect transportation in a given area, the systems can ensure they change flight plans, redirect planes, or even reschedule flights. Google Cloud AI helped Lufthansa to predict the wind patterns at Zurich and thus decrease the number of delays.

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AI, personalization and sustainability: maybe too much?

As we strive to achieve the outlined advancements for 2025, some challenges are likely to be encountered. For instance, using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) depends on solutions to the existing production constraints and high costs.

Although airlines have shown their willingness to use SAF, increasing production to meet the market demand is still a problem.

Likewise, when Lufthansa and Qantas are bringing back the Airbus A380 while meeting the current need, it is questionable how fuel-efficient it will be in the long run, which may slow down the commercial aviation sustainability process.

Moreover, using biometrics and automation in airports is capital-intensive and requires cooperation from airlines, airports, and governments. Biometric data has many valid privacy issues, which may also impede the uptake of this type of data.

Last but not least, automated flight scheduling and resource planning based on AI have strong perspectives. Still, they depend on the quality of data available and the existing system’s ability to adopt new technologies.

Significant progress is expected in the deployment of most of these innovations by 2025, although some may take longer due to the complexity of implementation.

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