Analysis Reports

Europe's airlines have installed WiFi internet connectivity for passengers on 21% of their short/medium haul jets and 24% of their narrowbodies, according to the CAPA Fleet Database.

Among Europe's top 30 European narrowbody operators, WiFi is available on 29% of aircraft. Turkish Airlines has the biggest European fleet of WiFi-enabled narrowbodies.

However, the low cost airlines Ryanair, Pegasus Airlines and easyJet - all major narrowbody operators - have no onboard internet connectivity.

Where internet access is available on European flights, the most common approach is for airlines to charge for it, while many also offer free messaging.

Free access for all passengers is rare on European flights. However, KLM is now rolling out free WiFi to loyalty scheme members (and facilitating onboard scheme registration).

The high speed, high bandwidth, Starlink WiFi service owned by Elon Musk is currently available on only 48 European short/medium haul aircraft. Ryanair's decision not to install Starlink recently led to a public spat between group CEO Michael O'Leary and the world's richest man.

Nevertheless, Starlink is growing among existing customers and has won recent orders from British Airways and Lufthansa Group.

As aviation emerges from a turbulent first half of the decade, regulation has become one of the industry's most powerful shaping forces.

Environmental mandates, consumer protection rules, infrastructure constraints and geopolitics are increasingly set at global or supra-national levels, yet their real-world impacts are felt most acutely by airlines operating in distinct regional contexts.

This session from the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World (Dec-2025) brings together senior leaders from three major regional airline associations to examine how regulation is evolving and how industry bodies are responding.

The discussion explores the unique role airline associations play as intermediaries between governments, multilateral institutions and commercial operators.

Far from being passive commentators, associations are deeply involved in shaping policy outcomes - from sustainability frameworks such as CORSIA and regional SAF mandates, to market access, ownership rules and passenger rights regimes.

The session highlights how associations increasingly act as coordinators, aligning diverse member interests into coherent advocacy positions while also supporting implementation once regulations are enacted.

With examples drawn from Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America, the session underscores that "one-size-fits-all" regulation rarely delivers optimal outcomes in aviation.

Differences in market maturity, infrastructure, airline business models and access to capital mean that identical rules can produce very different results.

This discussion provides timely insight into how regional airline associations are adapting their strategies, building cross-regional cooperation and engaging regulators to ensure that aviation regulation supports safety, sustainability and long-term industry viability rather than undermining it.

Southeast Asian Airlines, led by LCCs, have built up large aircraft order backlogs as they look to tap into the growth potential of this subregion.

Part one of this analysis looked at the broad trends that are boosting Southeast Asian travel demand, and it also examined overall order and delivery dynamics.

Southeast Asia is projected to have the equal highest annual traffic growth rate of any subregion over the next 20 years, along with South Asia.

Airlines in the subregion have about 1,700 aircraft on order, of which 83% are narrowbodies.

Part two of this analysis takes a more detailed look at airline fleet plans and upcoming deliveries. It also examines some of the largest airport development projects that will enable the anticipated fleet growth.

Many of the Southeast Asian full-service carriers are overhauling their fleets with new deliveries, albeit at a slower pace than they had expected. In some cases they are considering further orders.

The Asia Pacific region's largest LCCs are found in Southeast Asia. These LCCs dominate their local markets, and the four largest account for several hundred narrowbody orders.

Their orders far outweigh those of the full-service carriers, as LCCs are well-positioned to cater to growing middle classes in many countries.

Greenland's commitment to large-scale international tourism has not been high on its agenda. However, latterly an improvement in air connectivity for its small indigenous population by way of the upgrading of Nuuk (the capital's) airport tied in with an attempt to enhance foreign visitor numbers.

Unfortunately that mission seems to have fallen flat, as tourist visits decreased wildly in 2025, an outcome that was driven by transitional issues and other factors.

In 2026 another two airports will be enhanced to the point where they will be considered new, and again with the combined objective of aiding indigenous travel and boosting tourist visits.

But just as this is about to bear fruit, along comes a foreign leader (the US president) who wants to seize the entire territory.

The next few years will show whether Saudi Arabia's ambitions are an overreach, or whether the state-led investment will transform the country's aviation market.

That is one of the clear observations of the 'Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030: An Evolving Market for Air Travel' report that was published in Dec-2025.

Saudi Arabia aims to nearly triple the size of its aviation market and catapult itself into the ranks of the top 10 aviation markets globally within the next five years.

The country has set immensely ambitious targets to attract 330 million passengers per annum, including 100 million domestic and international tourists, handle 4.5 million tonnes of air cargo per annum and open connections to more than 250 global destinations by 2030.

A great deal of public-private partnership (P3) activity has taken place at airports in New York in the past few years, to finance major items of infrastructure. In late 2024 the Port Authority outlined plans for a new terminal building at Newark Liberty Airport, but left open its financing. CAPA - Centre for Aviation speculated that there would be a P3, eventually.

That 'eventually' was at least influenced by a series of events, some of them within the Port Authority's control and others not, that identified Newark as probably the least efficient and customer-friendly airport in the US.

The majority of those issues have since been circumvented, although a handful remains. The question is: to what degree the usual suspects that have invested greatly at other Port Authority airports in the last half decade or so - and those that aspire to - will be influenced by recent history and perhaps decide that Newark is a bridge too far.

And that includes airlines.

This report also includes an overview of P3 activity at some other US airports.

If the Asia Pacific region is the growth engine for the global airline industry, then Southeast Asia could be considered the engine within the engine.

Southeast Asian airlines have racked up massive aircraft order backlogs to cater to rapidly rising demand in the dozen countries that comprise this subregion.

Of course, airlines here are not immune to industry headaches such as supply chain bottlenecks and delivery delays. These factors have disrupted fleet planning in Southeast Asia.

However, there are signs that deliveries and fleet renewal are slowly regaining some momentum.

LCCs are a major force in Southeast Asia, and they account for the bulk of the aircraft orders there. But full-service carriers have also placed significant orders with more in the pipeline.

Infrastructure expansion will be needed to accommodate the longer-term fleet expansion projections, and several important airport projects are underway to address that issue.

With the Singapore Airshow approaching in early Feb-2026, now is a good time to take a closer look at fleet developments in this region.

Part one of this snapshot looks at some of the fleet trends and market dynamics in the subregion, while part two will drill down to specific airlines and airport projects.

Iberia received its seventh Airbus A321XLR in early Jan-2026. Narrowbodies have historically been deployed on short/medium haul routes, but the extra-long range of the XLR justifies its inclusion in Iberia's long haul fleet count.

In Jun-2025 Iberia revealed its 'Flight Plan', setting out its strategic aims to the mid 2030s. These include increasing its long haul aircraft numbers to approximately 70.

More recently, Iberia CEO Marco Sansivini has reported an interim target of 59 long haul aircraft by 2030, versus 49 today.

Iberia's A321XLR fleet is now almost complete, with one more due for delivery in 2026. Its total of eight long haul narrowbodies compares with its current widebody fleet of 42 aircraft, with nine more A350-900s expected by 2030.

The XLR accounts for a minority of Iberia's long haul fleet, for which trans Atlantic destinations in Latin America and North America are the main focus.

Nevertheless, it has already become an important tool in opening new markets on thinner routes and in adding frequencies to existing destinations.

For decades, airline management has been defined by an almost ritualistic response to downturns: cut capacity, defer investment, shrink the workforce and wait for demand to return.

This session from the CAPA Airline Leader Summit - World, held in Dec-2025, examined whether that playbook is finally being retired.

Drawing on the perspectives of airline leaders from Europe, the Middle East, North America and small-island markets, the discussion explored how airlines are increasingly managing volatility with greater discipline, data sophistication and strategic confidence.

Despite slowing macroeconomic growth, persistent geopolitical tensions and fragile consumer sentiment, industry expectations entering 2026 remain notably resilient. Balance sheets are stronger than in previous cycles, fleet flexibility has improved, and network planning has become far more dynamic.

Recent examples include airlines maintaining capacity through regional conflicts, absorbing fuel price volatility without panic responses, and continuing targeted investment in premium cabins, loyalty platforms and digital distribution even as yields soften.

The session also addressed the limits of this new resilience. Structural weaknesses remain, particularly around supply chain fragility, labour constraints and uneven access to capital across regions. Leaders debated how to calibrate responses when the depth and duration of a downturn are unclear, and how to avoid overreacting to short-term signals.

Finally, the discussion assessed the growing role of advanced analytics and AI in crisis management. While decision-support tools are increasingly central to scenario planning and network optimisation, the session underscored the ongoing risk of data overload and false precision.

The emerging consensus: cyclicality may not be dead, but airlines are learning how to live with it far more rationally than ever before.

Numerous attempts have been made to attract at least a partial level of privatisation to Romania's airports over the past decade or so, but without much success.

One exception was a private organisation operating under the auspices of the government, which exists to compensate individuals whose properties were confiscated during the communist regime - namely Fondul Proprietatea (FP). It was a 20% shareholder in CNAB, the operator in the two main airports in Bucharest.

But following what now seems to have been a rash statement encouraging an IPO on the airports made in Nov-2025, FP has been summarily removed from its ownership equity.

Essentially, the state has renationalised the airport, and not for the first time in recent years in this part of the world.

There is an exception to every rule, and here that is the Avant Alexeni Airport which is under construction close to Bucharest, together with a Ukrainian company; Avant being the operator.

It will be a serious challenge to the two state-operated airports, especially in the freight field.

The irony is that with such a degree of recent interest in Eastern European airports by major investors and operators (and despite previous privatisation failures over the years in that region), Bucharest's Henri Coandă International Airport (a.k.a. Otopeni Airport) at least would be an attractive proposition to them.