Asia-Pacific airlines have restored international traffic to pre-pandemic levels, but growth has stalled due to ongoing supply chain challenges. Despite strong demand, profits are increasingly pressured.
The Asia Pacific airline industry has recovered international capacity to the levels seen before the pandemic. However, advancing beyond this threshold has become difficult. This was highlighted during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - Asia held in Singapore on 30 October 2025.
At the previous summit in Hong Kong in November 2024, data showed capacity growth had already plateaued. This year, the stagnation has intensified further.
These challenges continue to affect airlines' capacity planning, limiting expansion despite demand recovering.
Asia Pacific carriers remain optimistic, placing 224 firm aircraft orders in 2025, indicating confidence in future growth.
Airlines are still generally profitable, enabling ongoing fleet investments; however, profits are under growing pressure, suggesting the peak of the current profit cycle may have passed.
The analysis covers broad trends across the Asia Pacific region and provides detailed insights into key markets including Thailand, Mainland China, and Japan.
This CAPA Analysis Report consists of 1,411 words.
Summary: Asia Pacific airlines have bounced back to pre-pandemic traffic but face growth hurdles from supply chain issues and mounting profit pressures despite steady demand.