Passenger planes older than they have ever been, says Iata

The world’s global fleet of passenger aircraft is older than ever before, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

The organisation, which represents airlines globally, says the average aircraft is 14 years 10 months old at the end of 2024. That is 15 months older than the average for the quarter-century from 1990.

The increase in average age is despite many older planes being retired during the Covid pandemic – including the entire British Airways fleet of Boeing 747 “Jumbo jets”.

Iata blames a sharp fall in deliveries of new aircraft. They peaked in 2018 at 1,813 aircraft. The estimate for deliveries in 2024 was almost 1,800, but by the end of the year, the figure is expected to be 30 per cent down at 1,254 aircraft.

In 2025, the original expectation was for 2,293 deliveries – but that forecast has already been reduced to 1,802. “Further cuts to this number are to be expected,” says the Iata report.

“An older fleet translates into higher maintenance costs and higher fuel burn.”

There are two giant aircraft manufacturers: Airbus in Europe and Boeing in the US. Both have encountered problems meeting targets.

Boeing, in particular, has had a disastrous year in terms of deliveries. Following the inflight drama in which a door plug popped out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max, the delivery rate for the best-selling aircraft has slowed dramatically.

Next summer, Ryanair may have to cut flights because it is not expected to receive as many aircraft as expected.

Boeing is also now years late in the delivery of its 777X wide-bodied aircraft – promised to be “the world’s largest and most efficient twin-engine jet”. A prototype first flew almost five years ago, but it will not enter passenger service until 2026. Lufthansa expects to receive its 777Xs five years behind schedule.

Airbus blames slow deliveries on supply-chain issues. The chief executive, Guillaume Faury, said in the summer: “We have thousands of suppliers, and when you have just a couple of them that are late on the ramp-up, that’s slowing down everybody.”

In addition, some reasonably new aircraft are currently grounded because of delays in maintaining engines.

Some Airbus A320-series aircraft are unable to fly because of problems with their Pratt & Whitney engines, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets that are awaiting repairs to Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Both UK airlines have cancelled routes because of the shortage of aircraft.

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The backlog of new planes has reached 17,000, a record high for the industry.

Iata says: “At present delivery rates, it would take 14 years to clear the backlog – double the six-year average for the 2013-2019 period. However, the waiting time is expected to shorten as delivery rates increase.”

The Independent asked British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair for the average age of their fleets. A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Ryanair’s fleet remains one of the youngest fleets in Europe. Our average fleet age is 9 years.”

An easyJet spokesperson said: “Our fleet is currently around 10 years old on average, which will slightly reduce at the start of 2025.”

British Airways has yet to respond. BA says online it has one of “the most modern fleets of any airline in the world”.

According to the website Airfleets.net, the average fleet age for British Airways is 13 years and six months.

There is no suggestion that a well-maintained older aircraft is any less safe than a newer plane.

The giant US airline Delta operates some of the oldest aircraft in the skies, including a Boeing 767 that will celebrate its 35th birthday early in 2025. The venerable jet mainly shuttles between New York JFK and San Francisco, according to data from Flightradar24.