International travel has passed its old high-water mark. An estimated 1.1-billion people crossed borders in 2025, more than at any point before the Covid-19 pandemic brought travel to a halt. Airports are fuller, flights are harder to rebook, and border queues are longer again. Those empty rows in economy cabins that we used to claim to get a good night’s sleep on long-haul flights? Almost non-existent now.
The difference this time lies in expectations. Travellers assume systems should cope and flying becomes more frictionless, and frustration sets in quickly.
The rebound arrived faster than airlines rebuilt capacity, faster than airports rehired staff, and faster than governments modernised border controls that already showed strain a decade ago. That imbalance explains why technology has shifted from enhancement to infrastructure. It now carries the load.
Airports feel the pressure first
Airports remain the most exposed fault lines. London Heathrow processed more than 79-million passengers in 2024 and entered 2025 with sustained peaks that outlasted traditional rush periods. Expansion takes years, so the airport focused on throughput. New CT scanners now allow passengers to leave laptops and liquids in bags, trimming seconds off each screening. Across tens of thousands of travellers a day, those seconds compound into shorter queues. When the systems operate as advertised, of course. And that is still not a given.
Singapore Changi opted for identity automation. Facial recognition links check-in, bag drop and boarding, allowing passengers to move through several stages without repeated document checks. Congestion shifts away from gates, where delays previously spilled into outbound schedules.
In India, Jaipur International Airport deployed an AI-driven queue management system after passenger growth outpaced terminal capacity. Cameras track crowd density and trigger staffing changes in response to live conditions. Or, at least, they should.
Airlines automate to limit disruption
Airlines operate closer to their limits than before the pandemic. Aircraft utilisation rates climbed while spare capacity thinned. Delays now spread faster and cost more.
American Airlines began testing Connect Assist, an internal system that analyses connecting passengers and recommends short departure holds when the downstream cost stays lower than mass rebooking. Decisions that once relied on manual judgement now happen in seconds, factoring in network impact rather than a single flight’s punctuality. However, the flip side is that failed systems exacerbate the negative impact.
Lufthansa invested in predictive maintenance platforms that analyse sensor data from aircraft systems. Early fault detection reduces last-minute groundings that trigger cancellations across tightly packed schedules. And which is undone every time pilots go on strike.
Connectivity plays a role as well. United Airlines began adding Starlink Wi-Fi on regional jets during 2025 and started extending it to selected mainline aircraft later in the year. The rollout reflects passenger demand for stable onboard internet, even as full fleet coverage remains a work in progress. Connectivity now shapes airline choice for travellers working across time zones. However, even the much-touted free Wi-Fi of the likes of Delta Airlines goes down at the drop of a satellite.
Planning shifts upstream
Expedia integrated generative AI planning tools into parts of its app, allowing users to describe trips in plain language and receive itineraries linked directly to live inventory. The tool compresses planning into fewer steps, reducing the need to juggle multiple platforms under time pressure. Just don’t click and pay before reviewing and revising the plan.
Google expanded travel features within Search and Maps, adding price tracking, congestion alerts and route alternatives alongside results. Planning and decision support now sit closer together.
Start-ups such as Mindtrip built itinerary engines that adjust schedules as availability changes. These tools target travellers navigating complex international trips with limited flexibility.
The result is that planning windows shorten while expectations of accuracy rise.
Borders define the pace
Border control increasingly dictates travel speed. Passenger volumes rose faster than staffing in many regions, stretching manual checks.
The European Union continued work on its Entry/Exit System, replacing passport stamps with biometric registration for non-EU travellers. Once enrolled, the promise goes, travellers clear entry faster at major hubs such as Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt, easing congestion during peak arrivals. Of course, that does not explain why I recently missed two connections due to endless passport queues in Frankfurt.
Dubai expanded its Smart Gates programme, processing registered travellers through facial recognition in seconds. The system handles thousands of arrivals per hour, absorbing long-haul surges without additional counters. It is one of the few travel tech promises that I have personally found to live up to expectations.
Australia accelerated Digital Passenger Declarations, allowing travellers to submit customs data before landing. Border officials receive risk profiles earlier, reducing dwell time in arrival halls. I will be testing that promise later this year
Hotels and destinations adapt under load
Hotels face sustained occupancy alongside staffing constraints. Marriott expanded mobile check-in and digital room keys across its portfolio, allowing guests to bypass front desks during peak arrival periods.
Barcelona introduced visitor flow analytics around high-traffic sites such as Park Güell. Timed entry and live monitoring aim to protect infrastructure strained by sustained visitor numbers.
Energy management systems gained attention as well. Accor rolled out occupancy-based climate control across selected properties to manage rising utility costs during long periods of full rooms.
These changes attract little attention, yet they shape how travel feels after arrival.
What the surge exposes
The return of international travel at scale revealed how tightly balanced the system remains. Demand recovered faster than resilience. Technology absorbed the imbalance by shifting decision-making earlier in the journey.
When more than a billion people cross borders in a year, inefficiencies multiply quickly. The defining travel tech story of 2025 is guided by that pressure. The bottom line: systems work hardest when travellers barely notice them.