Analysis Reports

The long delayed third tranche of Indian airport privatisations is almost upon us, the Indian government presumably having learned from the first two rounds (2006 and 2020/2021), which did not always go to plan.

With the biggest airports already privatised by concession this third round will bring much smaller ones into play and as in Brazil they (11 in the first instance with up to 26 in total) will be 'bundled', the idea being to place smaller less appealing ones with more attractive bigger fish in the same shopping basket.

There are two possible eventualities to watch out for. Firstly if the Adani Group continues to gain dominance in the sector by taking on a bigger portfolio. Adani said a couple of years ago that it would be focusing on its existing estate but that might not be the case any longer.

Secondly, if foreign investors such as Fraport and Flughafen Zurich will return. Both have said they would in the right circumstances but the airports up for grabs may not be big enough for them and what share of the equity might they expect this time?

There are strong rumours that Bangalore Airport might make a bid but is it not the case it has more than enough on is plate already?

Finally, bigger airports like Chennai and Kolkata again do not figure this time for a variety of reasons that are explained in the text.

US airlines recently offered surprisingly positive near-term outlooks in the face of climbing oil prices and uncertainty over the duration of war in the Middle East.

It's the first time those airlines have faced a major spike in fuel costs without hedging instruments in place, and for now, the market is absorbing increases in airfares instituted to offset a sudden run-up in fuel costs.

Across the border, Air Canada is also seeing steady demand, and pushing through its own fare increases.

But unlike its US counterparts, Canada's largest airline has some short term hedging in place that is also helping in the battle against spikes in fuel prices.

Air Canada also has a different approach in managing changing US transborder demand patterns during the past year, including leveraging a diverse fleet, leaning into corporate traffic, and continuing to build out sixth freedom traffic.

After geopolitical tensions created that shift a year ago, Air Canada and other airlines face a raft of new challenges stemming from a conflict that could have reverberations long after it's over.

Europe's top 12 low cost airline brands collectively carried 598 million passengers in 2025, which was a year-on-year increase of 6%.

Non-LCCs carried 416 million passengers - an increase of less than 3%.

The top dozen LCCs extended their lead over the top 12 non-LCCs to 182 million passengers in 2025, from 158 million passengers in 2024.

Moreover, the leading LCCs carried 24% more passengers in 2025 than in 2019, while the non-LCCs were still 4% below their collective 2019 traffic.

Ryanair, Europe's biggest LCC and biggest airline overall by passenger numbers in 2025, had 117% more passengers than the number two LCC - easyJet - and almost three times the traffic of Turkish Airlines, which is Europe's biggest non-LCC brand.

This report ranks the top 12 LCC and non-LCC airline brands in Europe by passenger numbers in 2025.

Airline payments have quietly become one of the industry's most powerful levers for growth - and one of its least understood.

This session from the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Asia in Singapore in Oct-2025 lifts the lid on a transformation happening in plain sight: payments evolving from back-office necessity into a frontline driver of revenue, customer experience, and competitive advantage.

What makes this shift so compelling is not just the technology - it's the mindset change. Airlines are no longer asking "how do we process payments?" but "how do payments help us sell better, reach further, and build loyalty?"

From digital wallets and real-time bank transfers to embedded finance and AI-driven fraud prevention, the payments ecosystem is expanding rapidly - and airlines are being forced to rethink how they engage with it.

At the centre of this discussion is a growing realisation: no airline can navigate this complexity alone. Partnerships with specialist players are becoming essential to unlocking innovation while maintaining security and compliance.

Using insights from industry leaders including UATP, this session explores what's changing, what's accelerating, and what airlines need to prioritise now.

If you think payments are still just about transactions, this conversation will challenge that assumption - and show why they may be one of the most strategic assets airlines have today.

While private equity is well established as a method of financing airport infrastructure - and increasingly so, along with investment funds and contributions from pension funds and sovereign wealth funds - private credit is playing a greater role today.

Private credit is differentiated in a number of ways from private equity, the most significant differences being that the investor does not take an ownership position, and that there is a lower element of risk attached to it.

There are numerous reasons why private credit has gained momentum recently, and especially so where there are public-private partnerships.

Equally, there are challenges in its application.

This report looks at those reasons and associated challenges, gives examples of a wide range of scenarios where private credit has been used to finance various forms of infrastructure at airports across the world and lists some of the main organisations that provide it.

On 10-Mar-2026 Air Europa announced a new codeshare agreement with the Chilean low cost carrier SKY Airline.

The agreement provides for the application of Air Europa's code to SKY Airline's service from the Peruvian capital, Lima, to the Chilean capital, Santiago, and to its flights from Lima to five domestic destinations in Peru. Other Latin America destinations from Santiago are to be added.

Air Europa is only the fifth ranked airline by seats in Spain and 33rd in Europe, but it has a significant presence in the market between Europe and Latin America.

Nevertheless, it does not serve Chile with its own aircraft and, in Peru, it only serves Lima.

The codeshare with SKY Airline will extend Air Europa's effective footprint in Latin America, while also providing its Chilean partner with additional feed.

Moreover, it will add to the nascent commercial and equity relationship between Air Europa and Turkish Airlines, whose interest is driven in no small part by Air Europa's ability to boost its own small presence in Latin America.

The Brazilian airport concession programme, jointly with Japan's the longest running in the world at 15 years as at 2026, has recently reactivated following a period of governmental introspection brought about by the return to power of the socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, during which some remaining concessions and re-concessions were put on hold.

The re-concession of Rio de Janeiro's Galeão airport was finally rubber stamped in 2025, and will take place before the end of Mar-2026.

But some analysts in Brazil hold that it is merely a lab experiment to investigate what might happen if other existing concessions were to be re-run.

Why should they be?

Well, hardly any of the original concessionaires are happy with their lot, complaining about bad seller (government) traffic forecasting, excessive financial demands, the persistently wonky economy, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indeed some of the original concessions have already changed hands, and now another one is on the cards - at Brasília, the capital, where the consortium member Inframérica is particularly miffed at the treatment it has received.

The 'JK Airport' there looks likely to be re-concessioned by the end of 2026. As with Rio, the existing concessionaire can re-bid if it wants to, and will undoubtedly be anticipating much better financial terms (as will any other participant).

In this case a large number of small airports are attached to the deal in one of the first examples of the government's AmpliAR scheme, introduced in 2015, which automatically attaches small regional airports to primary airport (re)-concessions, whether the bidders like it or not.

And that could include the Chinese, for the first time.

In most cases they won't, as the two types of airport are chalk and cheese, but that is the new reality.

And one of the smaller airports sums up that reality perfectly - Alto Paraíso, serving a hippy enclave, many of whom believe in extraterrestrial life and spend their time trying to contact it. If they had their way the comet 3I/Atlas would be the first 'craft' to land at the airport under its new owners.

As has often been observed - there is never a dull moment in the Brazilian airport sale Soap Opera.

Although the timings differ, both IndiGo and Air India face the need to select new CEOs to oversee the next stages of their expansion strategies.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers stepped down on 10-Mar-2026, while Air India CEO Campbell Wilson is expected to leave the airline next year when his contract expires.

The pair were hired from overseas carriers within two months of each other in 2022 to lead the Indian airlines through crucial growth phases, so there is a degree of symmetry to their Indian tenures.

Mr Elbers and Mr Wilson both had to contend with a challenging period for India's airline industry. The supply chain crisis, engine maintenance bottlenecks and airspace closures related to various conflicts have all presented headaches.

There has no doubt been extra scrutiny on the two leaders given the fact they are foreigners leading the country's largest airlines, and precedent elsewhere shows that public opinion can turn quickly against executives brought in from overseas carriers.

Both Mr Elbers and Mr Wilson would be fully aware of that fact. Despite the challenges they have faced, they have still managed to make significant advances in their airlines' respective growth agendas.

Ryanair Group was again Europe's largest airline group by passenger numbers in 2025 - the seventh consecutive year it has topped the ranking. When it took the top spot in 2019, Ryanair's lead over second-placed Lufthansa Group was 7.2 million passengers.

In calendar 2025 Ryanair's 206.4 million passengers was 71.4 million more than Lufthansa Group's 135.0 million. The gap between the top two was more than the annual passenger count of all but the top six groups.

Ryanair carried 111.5 million more passengers than the next biggest individual airline brand - easyJet (also the number two low cost airline group). This gap was more than the annual passenger count of all but the top three groups.

Collectively, Europe's top 20 airline groups increased passenger numbers by 4.2% year-on-year in 2025, and were 8% above their 2019 traffic level.

The seven LCCs among the top 20 fared better, collectively carrying 26% more passengers than in 2019.

Airlines have reached a turning point: the complexity of modern retailing, disruption management, and customer expectations has outgrown what can be efficiently built in-house.

This session from the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World from Dec-2025 explores a decisive industry shift - from self-reliance to smart collaboration - where airlines are increasingly forming deep, capability-led partnerships with external specialists to accelerate transformation.

Rather than treating third parties as vendors, leading airlines are now integrating them as strategic extensions of their business. The result is faster innovation cycles, lower operational friction, and access to technologies that would otherwise take years to develop internally.

This discussion unpacks why this model is gaining traction now, how commercial structures are evolving, and what separates successful partnerships from costly integrations.

Using recent real-world examples, including the collaboration between SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Cover Genius, the session highlights how airlines are embedding external expertise directly into their customer journeys. The focus is not on any single deal, but on a broader strategic movement: airlines becoming orchestrators of ecosystems rather than standalone operators.

For executives navigating digital transformation, this session offers a clear message - competitive advantage increasingly depends not on what you build, but on who you partner with and how effectively you integrate them.