Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Global airlines spent US$24.5 billion on payment processing in 2025, against total sales of US$1.05 trillion, with costs rising faster than revenue, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
Payment processing costs increased by 10.4% compared with 2023, outpacing the 7.7% growth in sales over the same period.
Airline sales totalled US$977 billion in 2023. The average cost of processing a transaction reached US$5 per passenger. By comparison, IATA forecasts that airlines will generate average net profits of US$4.50 per passenger in 2026.
Payment processing fees accounted for the largest share of costs in 2025, reaching US$20.7 billion, or 84.5% of the total, according to the association.
Another US$2.9 billion, or 11.8%, went on airlines' operating expenses related to payment systems, delays in receiving funds, staffing and regulatory compliance. Losses from fraud and unpaid sales reached US$900 million, or 3.7%.
Bank card payments carried the highest fees, averaging 2.53% of each transaction. The average across all payment methods was 1.97%, while the cheapest options had fees of 0.01%.
IATA said airlines needed to expand the use of alternative payment methods and improve the efficiency of payment operations.
According to the association's 2025 Global Passenger Survey, 29% of passengers prefer digital wallets, while 8% favour local instant payment systems.
To support these options, IATA is developing its IATA Pay and IATA Financial Gateway services.
IATA Pay allows passengers to pay for travel through local instant payment systems. It is available in 34 countries and supports 38 payment schemes.
The IATA Financial Gateway helps airlines and travel service providers manage payments in more than 170 countries using over 300 payment methods.
The association also offers tools to improve transparency in corporate and agency payment costs.
Its Transparency in Payments solution allows airlines to set payment acceptance rules within the Billing & Settlement Plan (BSP).
In addition, IATA is working with airlines and corporate customers to develop an approach to business travel payments. The initiative is intended to simplify payment reconciliation and expand the range of available payment methods.
The association said that offering a wider choice of payment instruments could both reduce costs and increase revenue.
According to IATA research, approximately one in five attempts to pay for ancillary services fails because the initial payment is declined and passengers are not offered an alternative payment method.
