Asia-Pacific international capacity still lags other regions – but is catching up

International airline capacity in the Asia-Pacific market is continuing its upward momentum as it gradually closes the gap with the other major global regions that recovered sooner.

Asia-Pacific international seat capacity is still well below pre-pandemic levels, but is nevertheless rising during its rebound year. While the increase is significant, it would no doubt have been steeper without some of the growth constraints confronting the airline industry.

Demand has roared back, and many airlines have struggled to keep pace in terms of seat supply as they seek to return the remainder of their parked aircraft to service and obtain additional aircraft. Supply chain bottlenecks have not helped the situation either.

But overall the trend is encouraging, and the data points from CAPA and OAG in this analysis provide a snapshot of the recovery dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region.