Fuel is squeezing airline margins. After years of investing in more fuel-efficient aircraft, carriers are looking for the next source of savings in operational data, analytics and artificial intelligence, DKNews.kz reports.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global airlines are expected to spend around $350 billion on fuel in 2026 — nearly one-third of the industry’s total operating costs. Stuart Fox, IATA’s Director of Flight and Operations, believes that further efficiency gains will increasingly depend on decisions driven by data.
$350 Billion on Fuel with Profitability at Just 2%
Jet fuel prices are particularly sensitive for a business operating on thin margins.
Global airline profitability stood at 4.2% in 2025, while IATA expects it to decline to 2% in 2026. Against this backdrop, even a relatively small reduction in fuel consumption can have a meaningful financial impact.
In an IATA survey conducted in March, 90% of airlines identified fuel efficiency as a priority. Among executives responsible for finance and procurement, the figure reached 96%.
Stuart Fox links the next stage of fuel savings to deeper analysis of flight operations.
IATA
“As the opportunities for further efficiency gains through fleet renewal or changes to route networks have largely been explored, the next gallon of fuel saved will increasingly come from better operational decisions based on data. Achieving further savings requires deeper operational insight, better benchmarking and an understanding of how a company’s performance compares with that of other market participants,” Fox said.
Fox explains this approach in more detail in his blog on the IATA website.
Air Astana Targets a Further 2% Reduction in Fuel Consumption
For Kazakhstan’s aviation sector, the issue has a practical dimension. Air Astana is combining fleet renewal with digital tools designed to identify additional fuel savings.
In the airline’s materials covering the first half of 2025, Air Astana said it was preparing to launch an AI-powered aircraft performance monitoring system. The target is to achieve an additional reduction in fuel consumption of up to 2% across the entire route network.
This represents the next step beyond more traditional optimisation tools.
Over the same period, Air Astana reported that Fuel Tankering generated around $6 million in savings over 12 months. A route optimiser and other operational measures also contributed to lower fuel costs.
In its 2025 Integrated Annual Report, Air Astana also says it is introducing a range of fuel-efficiency and aircraft-performance monitoring systems to optimise consumption.
New Aircraft Remain the Most Obvious Way to Save Fuel
Digital solutions do not replace fleet modernisation.
IATA
During 2025, Air Astana took delivery of eight Airbus A320-family aircraft and retired three Embraer E2 aircraft. The company said its fleet had become the most standardised and fuel-efficient it had operated in more than 20 years.
At the end of 2025, the group’s fleet comprised 62 aircraft, with an average age of 6.4 years. Air Astana’s fleet is primarily built around modern Airbus A320-family aircraft, alongside Boeing 767s used on longer international routes.
Other carriers in the region are also renewing their fleets. Azerbaijan Airlines received another Airbus A320neo in 2026, while Uzbekistan Airways is introducing Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321neo aircraft.
But as fleets become more efficient, attention increasingly shifts to how each aircraft is operated on every individual flight.
Data Can Show Where an Airline Is Burning Extra Fuel
IATA is able to compare operational performance across a large number of carriers.
According to Fox, the association has access to operational information from more than 240 airlines worldwide. The analytics can compare aircraft types, route profiles, individual phases of flight and geographical regions.
One example is the amount of fuel remaining at the end of a flight.
“For example, we may see that a particular airline systematically completes flights with higher fuel remaining than operators flying similar aircraft types on comparable routes. Such benchmarking helps identify opportunities to improve fuel efficiency without compromising safety,” Fox explained.
If the same deviation appears across a large number of flights, it can be turned from an observation into a specific operational task: procedures can be changed, planning adjusted or employees given additional training.
For this type of analysis, IATA also develops Flight Operations Data eXchange (FOX). The system combines flight-planning data, actual flight-performance information and aircraft-configuration data to compare planned and actual results.
Not All Fuel Savings Depend on the Crew or Airline
Fuel consumption is determined by more than how much jet fuel is loaded onto an aircraft or what speed the crew selects.
Air traffic management, available flight paths, delays in obtaining clearances and approach procedures also play a role.
“Many sources of inefficiency arise elsewhere in the aviation value chain, particularly within air traffic management. Airlines depend on air navigation service providers to deliver more efficient flight trajectories at every stage. One example is the use of more direct routes during the approach phase, which can deliver significant fuel savings,” Fox said.
One of the tools used in this area is Performance-based Navigation, or PBN. Over the past six years, IATA has participated in related projects in Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In Aviation, Even a Few Percentage Points Matter
Fuel efficiency is becoming less dependent on a single major solution.
A new aircraft reduces consumption through more efficient design and engines. Analytics, meanwhile, searches for losses within everyday operations — across routes, payloads, fuel planning, fuel remaining after landing and the performance of specific aircraft types.
Air Astana shows how tangible that effect can be. According to the airline, Fuel Tankering alone generated around $6 million in savings over 12 months, while its next AI-based system is targeting an additional reduction in fuel consumption of up to 2% across the network.
With global airline fuel expenditure forecast at around $350 billion, carriers are increasingly competing for every percentage point of efficiency. And that efficiency is now being sought not only in the engines of new aircraft, but also in the data showing how those aircraft actually fly.
Previously, we reported on how Air Astana is expanding its digitalisation efforts and adopting artificial intelligence. The airline is also developing digital solutions across other operational processes. We have also covered Air Astana’s use of AI in ground-handling management.
