What's hot and new in the world of aviation in 2025
From the rise of point-to-point travel to a premium economy boom, here are all the airline trends to look out for in 2025.
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Interested in the biggest airline trends to look out for in 2025? We've consulted the experts to bring you everything you need to know.
1. The rise of premium economy
Premium economy continues to be very popular in Australia and around the world, with "load factors consistently averaging 80 per cent," Barry Brown, Divisional Vice President, Emirates, Australasia, tells Escape.
"Since tickets went on sale in Sydney in August 2022 and in Melbourne in April 2024, over 185,000 passengers have flown to and from Australia in Premium Economy, with the cabin class exceeding all expectations."
This positive response has resulted in Emirates serving Australia with close to 3,200 weekly Premium Economy seats, including two daily services from Sydney and two daily services from Melbourne.
“Premium economy will get bigger as more airlines realise the value case while passengers seek the space case" says Geoffrey Thomas, Airline Ratings editor in chief.
"Emirates are raving about it, while Lufthansa say it the most profitable class on the aircraft for them. Passengers are desperate to get out of cramped economy seats and this is the perfect solution,” he says.
It's not just Emirates. As Aussies continue to endure cost-of-living pressures while treating themselves to travel again, Etihad anticipates seeing enhanced economy offerings "continue to expand" too, Amer Khan, Etihad Australia Regional General Manager, tells Escape.
"Etihad’s 'Economy Space' is the perfect choice for travellers that are after a little more space and comfort closer to the pointy end of the aircraft, without the price tag of business class."
Premium economy may also get more accessible in 2025. This is because as airlines increase their premium economy offerings and battle for more passengers, they are also pricing it more competitively, "making it more accessible to travellers who want to upgrade their experience without the price tag of business class," David Smyth, founder of travel consultancy Forward Travel, tells Escape.
2. Birkenstocks bandits
Birkenstocks and socks are becoming the it choice of long haul footwear, with leading men's stylist Jeff Lack telling Escape: "it's definitely a look on the increase."
He says this look has become popular because "travel and comfort go hand in hand, as we all like to be as comfortable as possible when travelling."
"Birks are comfortable and when you add fluffy socks, that feeling is certainly elevated. The best example of this look is the closed toe options."
Once a major fashion no-no, "wearing Birkenstocks and socks is fully acceptable these days," says Forward Travel's Smyth.
"The message? Comfort is cool – particularly when you’re flying long distances. The polarising fashion choice is perfect for long-haul flights, offering the perfect comfort-and-warmth combo – expect to see a lot more of it in 2025, particularly among the young, hip,influencer demographic."
3. A crackdown on seat-belts
In the aftermath of a few nasty turbulence incidents in 2024, it is "highly likely that airlines will crack down on seat-belt compliance" Smyth says, and get stricter about passengers taking their headphones off to listen to the safety briefing at the start of flights.
"We can expect both airlines and regulators to adopt stricter policies regarding seat-belt compliance and safety briefing engagement to minimise risks and enhance passenger safety going forward. Airline and industry insurers will most certainly be onto this too," he says.
4. Rawdogging 2.0
Whether we're talking 'raw-dogging' or 'maladaptive daydreaming' 2024 was a year of travellers finding ever-weirder challenges to occupy themselves while up in the air. Etihad's Khan says he anticipates this to continue in 2025, telling Escape: "While some passengers may experiment with ‘tech-free’ flights or unique in-flight habits, it comes down to personal preferences." As for our ideas for 2025 over at Escape, we reckon podcast patrolling (spend the whole flight listening to podcasts) and seatback smashing (watching back to back movies throughout the duration of the entire flight) could become trends. Watch this space...
See also: The female equivalent of 'raw-dogging' a flight is here, and it's terrifying
5. Point-to-point travel to increase
Point-to-point travel (ultra-long haul flights which negate the need for a stopover, like Perth to London) is an aviation trend set to rise in 2025. As Qantas CEO International Cam Wallace tells Escape: “We’ve seen an increase in customers choosing the convenience of a direct flight on long-haul sectors."
“Our Auckland to New York service has been very popular among New Zealand travellers since launching last June so we know the demand for point-to-point, non-stop travel is strong."
Beyond that, nonstops wherever they are introduced "triple the traffic" to a destination, Airline Ratings editor in chief Geoffrey Thomas claims, "so new point to point flights will be very popular.”
Qantas currently offers three non-stop services from Australia to Europe, (Perth to London, which runs daily year round, Perth to Rome, which runs seasonally during European summer, and Perth to Paris, which runs three times per week year round).
Additionally, by late 2025 Qantas will fly passengers non-stop from the east coast of Australia to New York and London on its new A350 aircraft.
Also, in May 2025 Qantas will boost capacity to the USA with the launch of direct flights from Melbourne to Honolulu.
Finally, Qantas hopes to begin direct flights from Perth to Auckland and Johannesburg in late 2025.
6. Croatia increasing in popularity
Europe continues to be a popular holiday destination for Australians, with over 440,000 travellers trading winter chills for summer thrills throughout June, July and August 2024, with top destinations for Emirates including United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, France, and Spain.
As for trends for 2025 to look out for, Emirates says Croatia and Portugal are on the rise, with both destinations spiking in 2024, with bookings to Croatia climbing by 13 per cent and bookings to Portugal experiencing an 8 per cent hike compared to the same period last year.
7. 'Stop-over-cations'
Over the past year, Dubai has experienced a spike in travellers, Emirates' Brown tells Escape.
"Over 101,000 overnight Australians experienced the city from January to May 2024, a 5.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023."
Etihad's Khan says Etihad is seeing this too, saying: "We’re loving seeing more travellers embracing stopovers to break up long-haul trips, particularly Australians heading to Europe."
There is also a growing trend of travellers scooping up budget flights to Europe via Asia, on the likes of Scoot, EVA Air and Air Asia, stopping over in places like Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia and having a quick adventure.
This is because travellers are increasingly looking for opportunities to visit multiple destinations in one trip, Froward Travel's Smyth tells Escape. "A stop-over-cation allows them to maximise travel time and explore a city they may not have planned to visit otherwise."
"With the rising costs of general living and more flexibility in airfares, travellers may find that a stopover adds value to their trip without a significant increase in cost."
See also: Eva Air review: I tried those bargain $584 flights to London ... but is it worth it?
8. Sober-curious flights
Led by Gen Z, "it’s quite likely that there will be an increase in passengers going alcohol-free on flights aspart of the broader wellness trends," says Smyth. "With a growing emphasis on holistic well-being and sustainable habits, we can anticipate a greater shift towards alcohol-free flights in the future."
"This global trend of 'Sober Curious' is encouraging people to explore alcohol-free lifestyles, even in social situations like travel."
9. Flights and airports to become more accessible
Smyth adds: "Trials of autonomous, self-driving wheelchairs are already taking place at airports like Tokyo, Haneda and JFK."
He says that by 2025, more airports are set adopt these devices, allowing passengers with mobility challenges to independently navigate terminals. More efficient, personalised assistance services at check-in, boarding, and deplaning are also expected too, he adds.
10. More enticing on-board features
Airline Ratings' Thomas says that once the revenge travel tsunami abates and capacity returns to normal levels, he sees airlines being more innovative to lure passengers.
"Airlines will roll out very attractive cabin offerings for the new Boeing 777X and Airbus A350 aircraft. Air NZ will add beds in economy class while the Emirates huge cabin – business and premium economy - makeover will really gain traction.”
11. The rise of obscure destinations
2025 could be the year we start seeing tourists shrug off the big name destinations and opening their minds to more obscure ones like Greenland, Ghana and Mongolia.
"2024 was the year where the issue of over-tourism really took hold and began to have an effect on people’s thoughts and habits around their travels,"Brett Mitchell, ANZ Managing Director at Intrepid Travel tells Escape.
"We recently conducted research, which showed that 74 per cent of Aussies’ choice of destination when travelling is now impacted by reports of overtourism and crowding and 70 per cent have felt frustrated or overwhelmed by the number of tourists when travelling."
"We have launched new trips in Greenland, Ghana, Mongolia as we’re keen to expand Australians horizons and these destinations all offer diverse and incredible experiences, which we anticipate will prove popular in the coming months and years," he says.
12. AI generated pilot announcements
If you're a fan of pilot announcements with personality, we've got bad news: some airlines are trialling AI generated pilot announcements in new languages. Turkish low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines for instance unveiled AI-generated pilot announcements in multiple languages in October, including Spanish, Arabic, Russian, as well as English. The AI-driven system reportedly uses voice-cloning technology to replicate the voices of real Pegasus captains to deliver announcements specific to each flight. Whether you find that creepy or cool, expect more of this kind of innovation in 2025.
Originally published as What's hot and new in the world of aviation in 2025
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