Asia-Pacific international recovery still trailing – particularly in Northeast Asia

Although international capacity recovery has started to accelerate for many Asia-Pacific countries, the region as a whole continues to lag other parts of the world by a significant margin.

The international capacity rebound is happening much more slowly in Asia-Pacific than in any other global region. This trend has been evident since the early days of the industry recovery and while the gap is starting to narrow, it looks as if it will remain for the medium term at least.

There are multiple reasons for this dynamic. Asia-Pacific governments were more reluctant to ease entry restrictions than those in other regions, while some Asia-Pacific airlines were forced to undertake major restructuring exercises under bankruptcy protection, which resulted in fleet cuts in many cases.

The Asia-Pacific region is vast, and some parts are lagging more than others. For example, the international capacity recovery has been stronger than the region's average in South Asia and the Southwest Pacific. But it has been weakest in Northeast Asia, where borders in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan have been slower to reopen.