CAPA Insights

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.

The US Trump administration ended the de minimis tariff exemption for imports from China and Hong Kong on 02-May-2025. The exemption previously allowed parcels valued at USD800 or less, such as consumer e-commerce goods, to enter the US duty free.

Hongkong Post responded to the announcement in Apr-2025 by suspending acceptance of air postal items containing goods destined to the US.

The impacts of the changes are yet to be felt, but are expected to result in reduced demand and capacity.

Data indicates that imports to the US increased significantly in early 2025 in anticipation of the Trump administration's trade policies, but this surge is not expected to be sustained.

The US and China agreed in mid May-2025 to reduce tariffs and other trade restrictions for 90 days. However, 10% tariffs remain in place and the de minimis exemption was not reinstated.

CAPA - Centre for Aviation recaps some of the new route launches, resumptions, frequency increases and launch announcements by Chinese airlines to destinations in Europe in Mar/Apr-2025, as covered by CAPA - Centre for Aviation's daily news briefs:

SSO denotes the carrier being the "Sole Scheduled Operator" on the route, according to OAG and the CAPA Route Changes Database.