Asia Pacific airlines: state of the industry; part one - more hurdles in international recovery

For the Asia Pacific airline industry, 2024 has been marked by more hurdles on the path to full recovery of international capacity and traffic.

The region's overall capacity has moved much closer to 2019 levels, but new and familiar challenges meant that the rate of growth slowed significantly compared to the previous two years.

This overview is based on a presentation by Adrian Schofield, CAPA - Centre for Aviation and Aviation Week Network senior air transport editor for Asia Pacific, at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit | Asia in Hong Kong on 5-Nov-2024.

Part one of this report discusses overall recovery trends in the Asia Pacific market from multiple angles, as well as looking at Thailand as an example of how these trends are playing out.

The second part will look at further market examples in mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong and India, as well as examining aspects such as aircraft order backlogs, LCC market penetration, and challenges for 2025.