IATA News in Brief 05 November 2026

IATA highlights priorities to create value from digitalization: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) highlighted the challenge to turn advances in digitalisation across airline retailing, payments, and digital identity into even better passenger journeys and a more efficient, financially resilient industry. “Today, a traveler can use AI to plan a trip. They can pay with a digital wallet and use biometrics for a more seamless journey at the airport. The challenge now is realizing the value that these innovations can create to make travel more efficient and improve financial resilience,” said Sandrine Le Borgne, IATA Interim Director General, CFO and Senior Vice President, Corporate Services, speaking at the opening of the IATA World Financial Symposium and World Passenger Symposium in Macao. AI assistants and automated agents are changing how travelers discover and compare travel. For airlines, this creates both opportunity and risk. The strategic opportunity for airlines is to prepare for this shift while, retaining control of their data, retaining control of their commercial relationships, and ensuring the underlying quality of data. Modern Airline Retailing is central to adapting to this changing marketplace, and the transition is already under way. Seven airlines are live or implementing Orders, with more than 20 expected to follow from 2027, while IT providers have committed more than US$1.7 billion to Offers and Orders. “Offers and Orders are the foundation; AI is the accelerator. They need to move forward together as AI increasingly reshapes how travel is discovered, sold, and serviced,” said Le Borgne. Biometrics are increasingly becoming part of the normal travel experience making airport processing faster and more seamless. But, as many solutions are airport or country-specific, the value they can potentially create for passengers and airlines is not fully realized. Governments are critical to gaining the full benefits of digital identity for international travel. The standards for secure digital passports exist with ICAO’s Digital Travel Credential. And, passenger expectation is high with more than eight in ten passengers indicating they are interested in using a digital passport to check in. The challenge for wider adoption is governments taking the step to issue and accept digital travel credentials. Travelers embrace biometrics and AI but entry requirements remain a barrier: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the results of its 2026 Global Passenger Survey (GPS), highlighting three major trends in passenger behavior and expectations: Biometrics are becoming mainstream and interest in digital passports is growing: Passengers are embracing biometric identification to reduce repeated document checks and show strong interest in using digital passports for check-in and more personalized services at booking. Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how passengers plan travel: From finding flights and comparing fares to discovering their next destination, passengers are making AI part of their travel planning. Entry requirements are a growing barrier to travel: More passengers say immigration requirements have discouraged them from visiting a destination. “Passengers are embracing technology to make travel easier. AI is becoming a mainstream travel planning tool, while biometrics and digital identity are creating a faster and more seamless airport experience. Yet many travelers continue to face barriers from complex immigration and visa processes. Governments can help by simplifying entry requirements, eliminating duplicate checks, and accelerating the issuance and acceptance of secure digital travel credentials,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Operations, Safety and Security. Nearly six in ten passengers report experiencing biometrics at least once in the past 12 months, and satisfaction with biometrics has reached its highest level yet. Over half of passengers (58%) report having experienced biometrics at some point in their airport journey in the past 12 months, up from 50% in 2025. Notably, this is up 24 percentage points from 2022. Retaining trust in biometrics remains essential to their adoption in travel processes. Passengers’ leading concerns about biometrics are data breaches (59%), information being shared with other organizations (49%), and a lack of clarity about how their personal information is handled (41%). The GPS shows that entry requirements are a growing barrier to travel, even as passengers embrace technology. Immigration requirements have discouraged 43% of passengers from visiting a destination, up from 33% in 2025. Asia-Pacific: Asia-Pacific travelers report the highest level of overall satisfaction. They are the second most willing of any region to use biometrics, although concerns about data breaches remain strong. Immigration requirements also discourage travel, particularly the complexity of the process. IATA calls for fairer approach to inadmissible passengers: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for a fairer balance of responsibility and costs between governments and airlines when passengers are refused entry on arrival. Airlines play an important role in preventing inadmissible passenger cases by checking travel documents before departure, but not every refusal can be prevented by an airline. Passengers can be refused entry for reasons beyond an airline’s reasonable control. These include cases where airlines do not have all the necessary information, complex fraud, changing migration trends, and government immigration or security decisions. While rules agreed by governments through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stipulate that airlines are responsible for custody and care costs when passengers are refused entry because of improper documentation, a newly released IATA report indicates a lack of transparency by governments in providing reasons for entry refusals.  Together with that need for transparency for entry refusals, the report also highlights the need for better information before departure, and clearer allocation of responsibility and costs. “Despite document checks by airlines, some travelers are refused entry at their destination. This can result in airlines bearing significant costs, including fines. Research shows that airlines often receive a bill or fine without any specification of the reason for inadmissibility. To help prevent recurrence, more transparency is essential. And in some cases, where airlines have done all that can be reasonably expected to ensure appropriate documentation, a fairer approach to sharing costs is needed,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Operations, Safety and Security. IATA is urging governments to: Clarify responsibility: Distinguish between cases where an airline failed to take the necessary precautions and those beyond its reasonable control. Make penalties and costs proportionate: Link penalties and cost sharing to due diligence, control and the specific reason for inadmissibility. Improve transparency: Tell airlines why a passenger was refused entry, within legal limits, so that they can understand what went wrong and help prevent recurrence. Strengthen prevention: Make greater use of interactive Advance Passenger Information (iAPI), digital verification, Immigration Liaison Officer support and real-time escalation channels to resolve questions as early as possible. Improve coordination on removals: Ensure timely notification and effective cooperation between States and airlines when an inadmissible passenger needs to be removed. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Sally Passey at [email protected]