CAPA: Southeast Asia-US capacity to increase substantially in 4Q2018

CAPA - Centre for Aviation, in a report entitled: 'SE Asia-US market: new nonstop flights will be challenging to sustain', stated (05-Oct-2018) nonstop frequencies between Southeast Asia and the continental US will increase from 39 to 70 per week by the end of Dec-2018. Premium capacity will nearly triple from 1890 to 5632 one way seats and economy capacity will increase by 32% to 13,242 one way seats. The capacity growth will be driven by Singapore Airlines' resumption of nonstop Los Angeles and New York Newark services and the launch of nonstop New York JFK service by Philippine Airlines. The market has historically been served primarily by one stop services. The introduction of new generation widebody aircraft is enabling more nonstop services but low initial yields will make them challenging to sustain, particularly given the recent rise in fuel prices. Initial fares on the new services are alarmingly low, an indication they could struggle to become profitable. [more - CAPA Analysis]