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43% Air Travellers Cancel Trips Over Tough Visa Rules – IATA
Tough visa and immigration procedures are now the biggest obstacle to global air travel, with more passengers choosing to avoid destinations with cumbersome entry requirements.
A new International Air Transport Association survey shows 43 per cent of air travellers have dropped plans to visit certain destinations because of stringent entry processes.
The figure, presented at a global briefing in Macao, China on Friday, is a sharp rise from 33 per cent recorded in 2025, highlighting growing frustration over border controls.
According to the survey, complicated immigration procedures were the top deterrent, cited by 53 per cent of affected travellers, while privacy concerns and cost of entry documents each accounted for 17 per cent.
IATA said the findings reflect a contradiction in the industry, where airlines and airports are investing heavily in technology to ease travel, but immigration bottlenecks remain.
The association’s Senior Vice President, Operations, Safety and Security, Nick Careen, urged governments to remove unnecessary barriers and adopt technology without compromising security.
Careen noted that passengers are already embracing technology, with artificial intelligence becoming a mainstream travel planning tool and biometrics enabling faster airport processing, yet many still face barriers from complex visa regimes.
He questioned the lack of consistency in eVisa verification, despite over 100 countries now issuing electronic visas, saying governments should adopt existing tools to fix the gaps.
The survey also showed strong appetite for digital solutions, with 86 per cent of passengers willing to submit immigration information electronically before departure, up from 83 per cent last year.
Similarly, 60 per cent prefer online visa applications to embassy visits, 45 per cent want to complete immigration formalities before reaching the airport, and majority support digital passports and biometrics, with 58 per cent having used biometric identification in the last 12 months and 87 per cent expressing satisfaction.
