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China Southern Airlines regional director of sales and marketing William Wang, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (29-Jul-2026) China Southern Airlines is "the largest carrier not only in China, but also in Asia", adding: "with scale like that, our largest competitor is not other Chinese airlines, but actually high speed rail". Mr Wang noted passengers can travel between Guangzhou and Hong Kong within roughly 90 minutes via high speed rail (HSR) today, while just 10 years ago the same journey via rail took four to five hours. He also noted that many major airports in China, including Beijing Daxing International Airport, are "actually co-located with HSR stations", meaning that passengers can easily and conveniently transit between domestic HSR travel and international flights. Given this, Mr Wang said Chinese airlines like China Southern have concluded that "within the range of 800km… HSR has an absolute advantage over airlines" for domestic travel between major cities, and airlines are willing to let passengers make domestic journeys in this range to major airports by rail, and then "we fly these passengers onward to overseas destinations".

ZIPAIR CEO Yasuhiro Fukada, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, reported (29-Jul-2026) the LCC completed installation of Starlink inflight connectivity across its entire fleet of eight Boeing 787s, enabling passengers in all cabin classes to access free high-speed inflight WiFi. Mr Fukada noted ZIPAIR "decided to install Starlink back in 2022". He said ZIPAIR's Gen Z passengers, in particular, enjoy Starlink supported real time online payment authorisation inflight, given their confidence making purchases, including expensive purchases, on personal smartphone devices. Mr Fukada also said Starlink has delivered unexpected operational benefits beyond passenger experience for ZIPAIR since installation, including enhancing safety by enabling pilots to access detailed weather data in real time during flights.

ZIPAIR CEO Yasuhiro Fukada, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (29-Jul-2026) the LCC does not plan to commence services to Europe in the near future, specifically not until it expands its fleet to more than 20 aircraft, up from eight at present. Mr Fukada said the US and Asia will be the primary focus of the LCC's international network expansion efforts, and that ZIPAIR is tentatively considering the option of commencing services to Australia and New Zealand in roughly two to three years, subject to aircraft deliveries. He said the LCC sees strong potential for growth in Asia, given its scheduled destinations in the region at present are limited to Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul, with plans to commence service to Kuala Lumpur in Oct-2026.

ZIPAIR CEO Yasuhiro Fukada, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (29-Jul-2026) the LCC plans to expand its fleet to more than 20 aircraft within the next five years, up from a fleet of eight Boeing 787-8s at present. Mr Fukada confirmed ZIPAIR expects to take delivery of two additional 787-8s by the end of Mar-2027, and more tentatively expects to commence taking delivery of its first 787-9s, transferred from Japan Airlines, in 2H2027. He added that "like most airlines", ZIPAIR is feeling the impact of aircraft delivery delays, hindering its network expansion efforts.

ZIPAIR CEO Yasuhiro Fukada, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (29-Jul-2026) the LCC aims to increase the number of lie flat seats available to its customers, especially on long haul services, from 18 lie flat seats installed on its Boeing 787-8s at present, to as many as 30 lie flat seats on its soon to be delivered 787-9s. Mr Fukada noted that despite initial skepticism from Japan Airlines regarding demand for lie flat seats from low cost passengers when the LCC subsidiary launched in 2020, the product has proved to be a major success for ZIPAIR.

Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson, speaking at the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific, stated (28-Jul-2026) "I'm super excited" for Project Sunrise. Mr Svensson noted business travel is a "big thing", adding: "We're not going to attract everyone".