CAPA Insights

Vietnam is preparing to welcome a sixth airline after the Ministry of Construction granted an air transport license to Sun PhuQuoc Airways.

The proposed airline intends to adopt a hub-and-spoke route model.

Sun PhuQuoc Airways will position Phu Quoc International Airport as its hub, operating charter services to major cities in Vietnam and Asia Pacific, including Japan, South Korea and China.

Speaking to Aviation Week Network at the Paris Air Show in Jun-2025, Airbus executives and engineers revealed progress on some of the manufacturer's efforts to grow the capabilities of its A220, A330 and A350 aircraft families.

Airbus' projects include a larger variant of the A220, increased take off weight for the A330-900 and progress on the upcoming A350-1000ULR.

Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) recently signed an MoU with Guayaquil Airport Authority to support the development of a new airport in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The USD360 million project will aim to develop an airport capable of handling over seven million passengers p/a, in a bid to address capacity concerns at Guayaquil Jose Joaquin de Olmedo Airport (GYE).

Airbus had a fruitful period at the 2025 Paris Air Show in Jun-2025, chalking up agreements for up to 406 new aircraft, including firm orders, options and MoUs.

The manufacturer secured deals for its A220, A320neo and A350 families, with suggestions of more orders to be announced in the coming months.

55 new routes launched in the region ... 20 different carriers feature in the list.

Eurowings accounted for the most new routes (9), followed by Sky Alps and Volotea (7), and Condor Flugdienst (5).

In 2025 airlines will make an estimated USD36 billion profit on projected revenues of USD979 billion. These are big numbers, but it equates to a net margin of a mere 3.7% or USD7.20 net profit per passenger.

This profitability "is not commensurate to the enormous value that we create at the heart of a value chain supporting 3.9% of global GDP and providing and supporting jobs for 86.5 million people," outlined Willie Walsh, Director General of International Air Transport Association (IATA) at the organisation's 2020 AGM in New Delhi, India, at the start of Jun-2025.

Governments around the world are building a competitive future for aviation because they want aviation to contribute even more to their societies and economies, says IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, but he highlights Europe as a worrying exception.

"As always, the exception is Europe," he said in his address to the airline industry at IATA's AGM in New Delhi, India at the start of Jun-2025, where we are seeing "more talk than action".

The fact that the cost of fuel is not dominating airline boardroom discussions and content at industry conferences is remarkable. It is a cost that airlines have limited control over, except for highly complicated hedging policies where some will be winners and others losers.

But right now it is described by IATA Director General, Willie Walsh as a key driver of anticipated stronger annual airline profitability in 2025. A revised outlook was released at IATA's AGM in New Delhi, India with improvements influenced largely on the back of falling oil prices.

Expedia, the US Travel Association (USTA) and the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) have called for swift intervention to bolster travel demand in the US.

Recent data indicates significant declines in arrivals and intention to travel to the US from a range of visitor source markets.

68 new routes launched in the region ... On 41 of the routes (60%), the carriers are the sole scheduled operators.