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WORLD AVIATION

Yearbook 2014
Global overview - Petrol and partnerships
Analysis - Air travel correlation with GDP growth
10 regional data & analysis
Key data of each regions selected airlines

Contents
Introduction.......................................................... p3
Main feature: Of petrol and partnerships.......... p4
Analysis: Air travel correlation
with GDP growth................................................. p9
Southeast Asia overview....................................... p14
Selected airlines key data..................................... p23

Lion Air

Garuda Indonesia
AirAsia

Singapore Airlines

Thai Airways
South Asia overview.............................................. p28
Selected airlines key data..................................... p33

IndiGo
SpiceJet

Air India

Jet Airways
South Pacific overview.......................................... p37
Selected airlines key data..................................... p42

Qantas Airways

Virgin Australia

Air New Zealand
North Asia overview.............................................. p45
Selected airlines key data..................................... p51

China Southern Airlines

China Eastern Airlines

All Nippon Airways

Korean Air

Japan Airlines

Cathay Pacific

Africa overview..................................................... p67


Selected airlines key data..................................... p71

South African Airways

Ethiopian Airlines

Kenya Airways
Eastern Europe overview...................................... p74
Selected airlines key data..................................... p77

Turkish Airlines
Aeroflot

Pegasus Airlines
Western Europe overview...................................... p80
Selected airlines key data..................................... p85
Ryanair
easyJet
Lufthansa

British Airways

Air France

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
North America overview....................................... p91
Selected airlines key data..................................... p96

Delta Air Lines

Southwest Airlines

United Airlines

American Airlines
jetBlue
Latin America overview........................................ p101
Selected airlines key data..................................... p107
GOL

TAM Airlines

LAN Airlines
Aeromexico

Middle East overview............................................ p57


Selected airlines key data..................................... p63
Saudia

Qatar Airways
Emirates

Etihad Airways

Pg 2 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 2014 CAPA Centre for Aviation

Introduction A

Pg 3 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

S 2014 UNFOLDS, THE TALE EMERGES OF


TWO ECONOMIC WORLDS, again on diverging
paths; slow growth in Europe and North America
brings out and accentuates the conservative voices
among those keen to preserve the status quo or merely to
postpone the inevitable.
At the same time as Chinas economy slows from its
previously high levels, casting a shadow over most of Asia,
there are signs of improvement in the mature markets. Yet
one thing that is not slowing in Asia and the Middle East
is the process of change, structural and in terms of market
access, as new airlines and airline types push regulatory
frontiers.
In Asia, the rapid evolution and diversification of low cost
operations is the most notable and probably most exportable
change.
Despite some asynchrony between capacity and demand,
which has prompted several SE Asian airlines to delay
deliveries of new aircraft, the growing influence of long haul
low cost airlines increasingly networking their operations in
ways similar to classic full service network airlines cannot
be ignored and will almost certainly spread across the world.
At the same time, legacy airlines, many of them burdened
by higher cost bases and often unproductive work practices,
are actively seeking ways of restructuring and redefining their
roles in a new world.
Aside from the essential steps to reduce costs, this
increasingly involves adoption of subsidiaries operating with a
different, low cost, model.
Amid this change, the US, still the worlds biggest market
by value and protected from outside competition has been
able to generate profits previously unheard of. Delta, the
worlds largest airline, alone recorded a profit of over USD2.5
billion for the past year.
Recent consolidation (enhanced massively by the
introduction of baggage and rebooking charges) has enabled
this standout performance; and the projections are for
continued financial performance on this scale. The difference
in the US market though is that traffic growth is minimal and
that market experimentation is limited to the smaller hybrid
airlines.
Emerging economies meanwhile are achieving varying
levels of growth as their economic growth stalls, dampened as
the US slows its previous monetary expansiveness.
CAPAs 2014 Global Aviation Outlook incorporates these
factors in its region by region assessment of coming months.
It also records the growing pre-eminence of partnership
strategies, also on many levels and varied types. And,
inevitably, recounts the always important issue of fuel prices,
with their uncertain impact on the industry.

GLOBAL analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Airline consolidation: could Europe follow North Americas path to improved margins?
Protecting the fortress and the double-edged dangers of protectionism
Airlines in Transition: Hybridisation and operating dual brands
Airline ownership & control. Why might Europe uphold something its officials call stupid?

Pg 4 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Of petrol and
partnerships

The airline industry, perhaps more than any other, is


horrendously susceptible to external challenges, where
managements have little or no control over outcomes. Fuel prices
are the most notable economic terrorists, now accounting for nearly
four tenths of all airline costs yet unpredictable and totally
unmanageable.
Add to that a massively disruptive combination of industry
factors that are reshaping the way airlines do business again
mostly outside the ability of most airline managements to control
and it becomes clear why most airlines have such a devil of a job to
make decent profits, or even any profits at all. The disruptive forces
are driving airlines towards makeshift partnerships, necessary but
still made cumbersome by the overhang of nationalistic regulation.
The year 2014 and beyond looks likely to be consumed by these
two drivers. For a few, it will be abundant with opportunity; for
the majority it could represent some of the biggest challenges they
have ever experienced.
There is another factor that unavoidably influences the
course of airline profitability: the state of the economy. Here
the news is, barely audibly as yet, getting better. Signs of
economic recovery in northern Europe and some easing of
pain in the US are welcoming more travellers back into the
sky. Better economic conditions do not necessarily correlate
with improved profitability; the industrys competitive
foundations can mean simply that better demand is met by
greater competition. It can also mean upward pressure on oil
prices as consumption increases.
Nonetheless, the good news is certainly that things are
starting, in a still-fragile way, to look as if demand will
continue to strengthen in 2014. There are still worries:
Chinas uncertain outlook for one; and the continuing
widespread instability in the Middle East, further aggravated
by Russian land grabs, also with potential implications for
fuel supplies.

The external impacts:

BRENT CRUDE PRICES MAR-2004-2014


SOURCE: NASDAQ.COM

CB*1 : 108.55

Vol: 677419

160.00
150.00
140.00
130.00
120.00
108.55
100.00
90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00
50.00

1,000,000
500,000

40.00
30.00
20.00

Pg 5 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1. Fuel prices
Improbably, through a year of perhaps the greatest, most
diverse series of upheavals in that most sensitive region of the
world, the Middle East, oil prices have refused to skyrocket.
In fact, after showing some easing in the earlier part of 2013,
prices have shown signs of becoming less benign.
This is not a good sign and, with President Putins Russia
showing signs of using energy as a lever against anyone who
gets in its way, many of the seeds are there for the sort of
speculative bubble that occurred in mid-2008, when prices
soared to around USD140 a barrel (with a much higher
aviation fuel margin).
Further increases push airlines to the limits in achieving
profitability and it is indeed a valuable indicator of the
efficiencies achieved that they were no more profitable
when oil prices hovered around USD35 in the early part of
this century. For an airline with a USD10 billion operating
revenue, the rough implication is that, with prices at USD105
a barrel, they will be spending USD300 million annually
more on fuel than they did back then. It would have been a
tidy profit in retrospect, but a very large additional burden to
accommodate today.
Where fuel prices will go this year is anybodys guess
and despite the array of expert opinions, that is all it will be.
Airlines will continue hedging and, at a high price, buying no
more than short term certainty of how much they will pay in

Where fuel prices will go this year is


anybodys guess and despite the
array of expert opinions, that is all it
will be.

That airlines are having to move


quickly has been a factor both of
immediate internal need and of
a shrinking number of options
as competitors soak up the few
partnership options available.
Pg 6 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

fuel costs. There is nowhere to hide.


However, the consensus is that prices are unlikely to fall
substantially, if at all. The tar sands/US exporter scenario is on
one side, reducing reliance on imports and with the US (and
others) eventually becoming net exporters; against this is a
destabilised Middle East.
If a hoped for drop in price were to occur, a newly
invigorated industry would enjoy at least a short burst of
good news. A substantial drop in prices would (i) breathe
life into inefficient models that were striving to achieve cost
reductions and (ii) change the equation significantly for
LCCs short, and in particular, long haul.
The Middle East turmoil has ensured a floor under prices
in recent months. Contrarily though, the surprising lack of an
extreme impact so far may actually suggest that there is more
pricing stability than we had come to expect at least on the
supply side (rightly or wrongly a lot of the pressure in the
2008 fuel spike was put down to speculation and/or emotion,
rather than a real supply shortage). The conundrum is
that demand has however also been suppressed by slower
economies - and an uptick will increase consumption levels.
Somehow things rarely seem to turn out as airlines hope.
2. (Re) defining the shape of the industry
With most variables outside their control, airlines have
few levers to pull when seeking to improve effectiveness
and efficiency. The most evident are reducing staff costs and
improving productivity and hopefully both. But the scope
for cost reduction in this way is severely limited where fuel
costs fill nearly half of the windscreen.
Every airline in the world is seeking annual (ex-fuel) unit
cost reductions and if they are not they can be assured that
their competitors are. It creates a major source of pain and
often resembles running at top speed merely to stay in the
same place.
But the real area for concern for many airlines, and where
cost reductions may be squeezed into becoming a mere
sideshow, is in how the shape of the industry is changing.
Low cost airlines have remodelled short haul operations
across the world; long haul low cost is becoming an extensive
reality in the Asian region (and soon the North Atlantic); the
Gulf carriers are reshaping much of the longhaul and hub
strategies of full service airlines.
Partnerships are increasingly looked to as the final resort
for airlines under pressure. Nothing less would explain
the enormous about face by airlines like Air France in
accommodating a relationship with Etihad, or even Qantas
with Emirates.
Amid this turbulence and under severe stress in short and
long haul modes, network and point to point airlines alike
have had to begin contemplating compromises that just a year
or two earlier would have been unthinkable.
Global alliances have filled a very valuable need and
continue to work very effectively for many airlines, but
as others around them realign into more egocentric
partnerships, the pressure intensifies to adopt more specific
partnering models.
That airlines are having to move quickly has been a factor
both of immediate internal need and of a shrinking number
of options as competitors soak up the few partnership options
available. The dance is becoming more furious and, in
essentially bilateral relationships, only so many partners are
available.
For many this has required innovative approaches

Over the past two years we reached


a tipping point. Technology and
social pressures have shifted the
fulcrum.

Pg 7 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

previously not part of their armoury. And they have had to be


adopted in very quick time.
Deciding on a radical new direction which can sometimes
mean casting adrift a large part of longstanding (even core)
activities or existing partners is hard enough, requiring
wholly new skills. Negotiating a major partnership on the run
while continuing business as normal in these circumstances
is another enormous ask, again where there are no roadmaps
and, typically a mountain of pushback from vested interests
whose status quo is threatened.
Actually then to implement them, again with all the other
day to day requirements to be met, is even more high risk and
diversionary from the main game.
Only the US majors are relatively immune from these
trends. Comfortably ensconced in a protected domestic
market bigger than any other in the world, refreshed by
shedding weight in Chapter 11 bankruptcies and now
merged into large dominant entities, they are enjoying almost
unheard of profitability at home.
Internationally, in the key market of the North Atlantic
the big three US carriers are also enjoying the protection
of antitrust immunised partnerships with their European
alliance peers. This combination undoubtedly creates a
benign environment, at least for the short term. Whether this
creates a level of complacency and lack of innovation that
will come back to haunt them is a story still untold. Delta
has dipped a toe in the water with its acquisition of 49%
of Virgin Atlantic, but for the largest airlines in the world
to be otherwise absent from the new worlds close bilateral
partnerships must be a strategic flaw.
In short, in 2014 disruption of the established framework
of the industry will accelerate. For any 70 year old system
which has remained virtually unchanged there must be a
time when old age catches up. In one respect, safety, there
has been massive progress, to the extent that major accidents
are extremely rare. But commercially, although changes are
occurring, they have been mostly around the margins until
last year. Over the past two years we reached a tipping point.
Technology and social pressures have shifted the fulcrum.
The key commercial features of the industry in a nutshell
are (1) market access in its broadest sense, partly proscribed
by bilateral agreements and (2) sales and distribution,
dominated by intermediaries, with (still) a minority of direct
sales.
In this latter area issues have also been bubbling under the
surface for several years, with google and other large online
forces prowling the boundaries of sales and distribution.
Sooner or later and probably quite soon a revolution
will unfold there too; already there is much activity in the
undergrowth.
Albeit with the spectre of high fuel prices in the
background, trends are accelerating towards more
longhaul growth and competition, as new aircraft types are
delivered and as industry fundamentals change thanks to
liberalisation, cross border joint ventures, equity alliances and,
increasingly, to the effects of partnering.
This new environment embraces not only the Gulf airlines,
but also how Chinas airlines start to become more important
in point to point carriage and, increasingly, in sixth freedom
transfer operations.
Very shortly, they will also become designers of the future
partnership system; even if they dont aggressively pursue
expansion internationally with their own metal, the attraction
of the Chinese market to outsiders is pressing foreign airlines

The platform has been laid for this


evolution and its balance has now
tilted.

to court the few available Chinese partners that are available.


Here again there is at least for the time being a limited
number of dance partners.
Other features in the mix are contributing to the upheaval.
Long haul low cost, previously the domain of Southeast
Asia is surfacing on the North Atlantic. This previously
derided concept of long haul low cost involves adopting
a range of new measures (like seeking out more efficient
crewing approaches, as well as using aircraft like 787s
accompanied by the essential underlying low cost mentality)
Will it work on the North Atlantic (yes!) and who else will
follow Norwegian, Air Canada rouge and WestJet?
The arrival of this previously Asian phenomenon on the
North Atlantic surely contains the seeds of something much
bigger. After all it used to work 40 years ago, with Laker
Airways and so-called charter airlines between the UK and
North America.
This will further increase pressure on the global alliances
on longhaul, including on the closed JVs, especially if fuel
prices were to fall. And the impact will not be limited to the
North Atlantic, nor just to the global alliances; all longhaul
airlines will feel the heat. But members of global alliances
will continue to see the need to compromise with and often
partner with the Gulf airlines.
Hybridisation is accelerating as both LCCs and full service
airlines look to adopt low cost models with full service
profiles. As a result, the dual brand concept is now becoming
popular in Europe as well, but the main full service airlines
are still having to undergo the upheaval of restructuring to
kill costs and increase efficiencies.
LCCs around the world are expanding most notably
in Asia; in SE Asia they now account for 60% of all intraregional seats. The nebulous spectre of excess capacity is
being raised as massive order books convert to deliveries, but
deferrals now seemingly more acceptable to manufacturers
may hold this risk in check.
The movement is slowly moving northwards. China has
announced it will allow new domestic LCCs to establish
there and as others expand in the region there is the platform
for a very large growth surge. The northern markets of
China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan are becoming much more
connected.
The resulting traffic volume in 2014 will not transform
the world, but the changes will provide the foundation for a
whole new wave of low priced growth and, accompanying
it, a cycle of further liberalisation.
In Europe the large LCCs, easyJet and Ryanair are
significantly profitable, despite sluggish economic growth
there; Mexico is lively and turbulent, with 61% of its
domestic market capacity on LCCs; India (72% of seats) and
the Philippines (92%) markets are dominated by LCCs.
2014 holds no promise of being more boring than the
previous year. Fuel price rises may silently erode the best
laid plans, but there is much greater certainty that forging
partnerships will occupy a lot more time at airline board
meetings. The platform has been laid for this evolution and
its balance has now tilted.

Pg 8 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Analysis:
The air travel correlation
with GDP growth;
Pinpointing the countries
where regulatory
intervention are most likely
to make a difference.

APAS EXTENSIVE COUNTRY RANKINGS


DATABASE provides rich pickings for analysis of
the relationship between the wealth of a country
and the penetration of air travel in that country.
Not surprisingly, our analysis confirms that the two are
closely correlated. Countries with higher GDP per capita
tend to have higher numbers of airline seats per capita.
Establishing a correlation does not indicate the direction of
causality, which works in both directions. Economic wealth
drives air travel, but air travel also helps to drive economic
wealth. However, the correlation is not perfect and levels of
penetration can be affected by geographical, political, fiscal
and infrastructural factors. This leads to some countries
having a significantly higher or lower number of airline seats
per capita than might be expected simply from their level of
GDP per capita.
Who are the out-performers, in terms of the penetration of
air travel, and who are the under-performers? What are the
characteristics of each group? How do the main regions of
the world compare?
And what role can governments play? - in some cases, they
can potentially make a significant difference.

The penetration of air travel is correlated with


GDP per capita

AIRLINE SEATS PER CAPITA (VERTICAL AXIS) VERSUS GDP PER CAPITA
(HORIZONTAL AXIS) BY COUNTRY
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, OAG (SEAT DATA FOR WEEK OF 9-JUN-2014),
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Pg 9 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

CAPAs databases include data from OAG on seat capacity


by country, together with population and GDP data from the
International Monetary Fund. We can use this to calculate
GDP per capita and airline seats per capita for the 177
countries for which all the necessary data is available. A
scatter plot showing airline seats per capita (for the week
of 9-Jun-2014) against GDP per capita is presented in the
graph on the left.
The chart demonstrates a number of points. First, there
is a vast discrepancy in the level of penetration of air travel
(measured by airline seats per head of population) across the
countries of the world. Setting aside countries for which we
have insufficient data to perform our calculations, the least
penetrated nation is the Democratic Republic of Congo,
with just 377 weekly seats per million of population, and the
highest is Qatar, with 618,362 seats per million people.
The most fundamental point highlighted by the chart
below is that, in general, a higher level of GDP per head of
population is associated with a higher level of penetration of
air travel (the correlation is quite strong, as indicated by the R
squared value of 0.7). That said, there is also a huge range of
different levels of penetration even within a narrow band of
GDP per capita, and so there are also other factors affecting
the propensity to fly.
The density of the chart in the bottom left corner
highlights that there are a large number of countries with
below average levels of wealth and of air travel penetration.
Only 34% of the countries on the chart have GDP per capita
above the global mean, but these countries account for 70%
of the total number of seats. Only 45% of the countries have
more airline seats per capita than the global mean, but they
account for 70% of total seats.
The disproportionate impact of the wealthier and higher
penetrated countries drags up the global averages, but many
of the worlds nations are still playing catch-up when it comes
to air travel.

AIRLINE SEATS PER CAPITA (VERTICAL AXIS, LOGARITHMIC SCALE)


VERSUS GDP PER CAPITA (HORIZONTAL AXIS) BY COUNTRY
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, OAG (SEAT DATA FOR WEEK OF 9-JUN-2014),
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Increasing wealth has a bigger impact on raising


air travel in poorer countries
The trend line that gives the best fit to the data points in
the above scatter plot is very slightly concave: it does not
rise in a straight line, but it gently flattens as it moves to the
right across the chart. This suggests that increasing wealth
(measured by GDP per capita) has a bigger impact on raising
the penetration of air travel in poorer countries than it does
in richer countries.
The chart below shows the same data as the previous chart,
but uses a logarithmic scale on the vertical axis (which shows
seats per capita). This not only accentuates the flattening of
the trend line as GDP per capita rises, but also stretches out
the lower end of the scale for seats per capita making it easier
to distinguish the separate data points in this crowded part
of the chart. We have also added some labels to selected data
points, indicating which country they represent.

Other factors also have an impact


Countries that are below the trend line on the above chart
have the potential to increase their rates of air travel in two
ways.
First, as for all countries, the number of airline seats per
head in these countries should increase as GDP per head
grows. For those that are also below the global average for
GDP per head, this potential is particularly strong.
Second, the countries below the trend line have the
potential to increase air penetration to catch up with other
countries of a similar wealth, but who already have higher
rates of air travel.
This process of catch up might be achieved in a variety of
ways, including regulatory change (including liberalisation
of market access), infrastructure development and taxation
policy. On the other hand, geographical and other structural
factors may mean that this potential is greater for some
countries than it is for others.

The BRIC emerging economies are under-penetrated by air travel


Note that all of the so-called BRIC countries (Brazil,
Russia, India and China) sit below the trend line in the chart
above (and they also have a level of airline seats per capita
that is below the global mean).
Among the four, India would seem to have the greatest
potential to improve the penetration of air travel, but needs
reform and further development on issues such as fuel tax and
infrastructure if this potential is to be realised.
For Brazil, the development of airport infrastructure may
benefit from recent privatisations and the stimulus of the
2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics and the
airline industry is continuing to develop distribution channels
that are adapted to the Brazilian market. Infrastructure
development has also been (and continues to be) an
important theme in both Russia and China, where recent
regulatory and legal changes should stimulate the growth
of the LCC sector and give a further boost to air travel
penetration.

The MINT grouping is more diverse


Pg 10 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Moving on from the BRIC countries, the more recently

identified group of MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia,


Nigeria and Turkey) are more diverse in terms of their
aviation markets. Whereas all the BRIC countries are among
the worlds largest airline markets by total number of seats
(only Russia is outside the top 10 and it ranks 13th), among
the MINTs only Indonesia and Turkey are at a similar rank
(they are 11th and 12th respectively; Mexico is 20th and
Nigeria 56th).
Unlike the BRICs, which are all below trend line on
our chart, the MINTs include two countries, Turkey and
Indonesia, that sit above the line. These two already have
more airline seats per head than might be expected purely
from their levels of GDP per head.
In the case of Turkey, this reflects the success of its national
carrier, Turkish Airlines, in attracting global connecting traffic
through its Istanbul hub. Indonesias position, only slightly
above the trend line, probably reflects the geographical
imperative of aviation as a means of transport in the
archipelago and the success of the LCC sector in tapping into
demand.
Mexico occupies a similar position on the chart to that of
Brazil, while Nigerias is not too far from Indias.
AIRLINE SEATS PER CAPITA (VERTICAL AXIS, LOGARITHMIC SCALE)
VERSUS GDP PER CAPITA (HORIZONTAL AXIS) BY COUNTRY: THE OUTPERFORMERS
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, OAG (SEAT DATA FOR WEEK OF 9-JUN-2014),
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

AIRLINE SEATS PER CAPITA (VERTICAL AXIS, LOGARITHMIC SCALE)


VERSUS GDP PER CAPITA (HORIZONTAL AXIS) BY COUNTRY: THE UNDERPERFORMERS
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, OAG (SEAT DATA FOR WEEK OF 9-JUN-2014),
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND

Pg 11 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Island nations and city states are the outperformers


Next, we reproduce the same chart, but this time we label
the out-performers - those countries at the upper frontier
of the scatter plot that also have a level of air seats per head
that is above the global mean. These nations have the highest
level of airline seats per head for their level of GDP per head.
These out-performers fall into two categories: island nations
and what might be termed city states.
The islands, which include Maldives, Bahamas, Cyprus,
Malta and Iceland, rely on air travel (and often inbound
tourism) for their links with the rest of the world and this
has given rise to a much more developed aviation market
than would otherwise be expected in equivalently wealthy
countries.
The city states include true city states Hong Kong and
Singapore and also Gulf nations Bahrain, UAE and Qatar.
In these countries, aviation markets have been stimulated by
government policy in addition to demographic features such
as large expatriate populations.

The under-performers
The under-performers highlighted in our next chart (see
graph on left) form the lower frontier of our scatter plot. They
can also be divided into two sub-groups.
The first consists of countries that have above average levels
of airline seats per capita, but that nevertheless have a lower
level than might be expected from their GDP per capita (in
other words, they are below the trend line on the chart).
This group includes some of the worlds biggest aviation
markets, such as the US, Germany, France and Japan.
Comparison with other countries that are similarly wealthy
suggests that they could be even bigger if they could move
up closer to the trend line. On the other hand, the position
of the line is perhaps artificially dragged upwards by the
presence of the islands and city states of the out-performer
group, where the penetration of air travel is boosted by the
geographic and political features mentioned earlier.

The more serious under-performers are those countries


that have a below average number of airline seats per capita
and also sit below the trend line on the scatter plot. These
include land-locked African countries the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Chad, Lesotho and Swaziland, as well as
Turkmenistan, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Their under-performance may be a function of a number
of different factors, such as the political backdrop, a lack of
infrastructure, or being served indirectly by the airlines of
neighbouring countries. On paper, at least, this group has the
greatest potential to increase the penetration of air travel.
AIRLINE SEATS PER CAPITA (VERTICAL AXIS) VERSUS GDP PER CAPITA
(HORIZONTAL AXIS) BY REGION
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, OAG (SEAT DATA FOR WEEK OF 9-JUN-2014)

Pg 12 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Regional differences: Middle East outperforms;


North America underperforms
By aggregating the data for the countries of each major
world region, we present a final scatter plot of airline seats
per capita against GDP per capita by region (see below). This
highlights a number of points.
First, Africa is substantially under-penetrated by air travel,
with only just more than one fifth of the global average
number of airline seats per head of population. This is broadly
consistent with the continents level of GDP per capita.
African countries occupy the lowest 11 places in the world
ranking of airline seats per capita.
Second, although Asia Pacific is the largest world region
in terms of the total number of seats, it is still a small market
relative to the size of its population, with only 56% of the
global average number of airline seats per head. Asia Pacific
is a very diverse region, with both developed and emerging
markets. It includes Maldives (the country ranked number
three in the world by seats per capita) and Bangladesh
(ranked 171 on this measure).
Third, Latin America is not far from the world average on
both GDP per capita and airline seats per capita, but is still
a little behind on both measures. Its aviation markets have
potential to benefit both from GDP growth and from the
additional boost to penetration levels that could result from
infrastructure development and regulatory reform.
Fourth, the Middle East as a region is outperforming
strongly in terms of airline seats per capita compared with
GDP per capita. It is only slightly wealthier than average
(GDP per capita 7% above the global mean), but has 68%
more seats per head than the world average. This reflects
government policy and the success of the super connector
airlines in the Gulf.
Fifth, Europe is a modest out-performer, with a higher
level of air travel penetration than might be expected from its
level of GDP per capita (particularly Western Europe). This
reflects the liberalised internal market of the European Union
(its aviation market and other markets, including that for
labour), relatively well developed aviation infrastructure and
the consequent development of the LCC sector.
Sixth, North America is underperforming in terms of
airline seats per capita against GDP per capita, when
compared with other regions. It has more than five times
the global mean level of GDP per capita, but less than four
times the global mean number of airline seats per capita. This
probably reflects the diminishing power of GDP alone to
stimulate penetration of air travel as aviation markets mature.
As we have seen earlier, there are island nations and city
states with similar levels of wealth to that of North America,
but where the number of airline seats per capita is much

higher, but they benefit from additional geographical and


policy stimuli.

Governments do have a large role to play


This report provides a glimpse of what can be gleaned from
analysing CAPAs country ranking database. It confirms the
correlation between the number of airline seats per head and
GDP per head, both at the country level and at the regional
level. Countries such as island nations have geographical
advantages that boost aviation markets.
While nations cannot do much about their geographical
location, their governments can play a large part in achieving
higher levels of penetration of air travel, or in holding it back.
Air travel in countries such as the Gulf states of Qatar and
the United Arab Emirates has been increased by government
policy and the consequent strategic growth of their national
airlines. This has led to the Middle East regions strong
outperformance in terms of airline seats per capita compared
with its GDP per capita.
Europe also achieves a higher level of air travel per head
than might be expected from its level of GDP per head, in no
small part due to its liberalised internal market.
By contrast, a number of countries underperform
significantly compared with their GDP per head. In such
cases, as in countries like India governments can often do
much to improve the penetration of air travel through their
stance on factors such as improved regulation, market access,
taxation and infrastructure.
In very mature markets, such as North America, it seems
that the very high levels of penetration of air travel are less
susceptible to further stimulation from growth in GDP per
head.
Perhaps the final frontier for governments in such cases
is to open up their domestic markets to global competitors.
This is something the incumbent airlines will mostly
resist strongly, but equally it is important to recognise that
regulators do have the power to unlock further growth
through regulatory intervention.
See related reports:
Indias Civil Aviation Agenda: CAPA proposals for the
new administration to restart the industry
Airline ownership & control. Why might Europe uphold
something its officials call stupid?
World airline industry in cyclical upswing - but in search
of USD125 billion annually in financing

Pg 13 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

SOUTHEAST ASIA analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Southeast Asia low-cost airline fleet to expand by almost 20% in 2014. Are more deferrals needed?
Garuda adjusts 777-300ER route plans to focus on Japan while dropping Australia-London one-stops
Garuda & Citilink 1Q losses widen. Potential Singapore Airlines investment poses intriguing option
AirAsia further slows fleet expansion as 1Q profit falls - with the potential to accelerate later
AirAsia drives rapid growth at Malaysias Johor Bahrus Senai Airport, further encircling Changi
AirAsia X drives 43% transit traffic at Kuala Lumpurs KLIA. Can Singapore follow the same recipe?
AirAsia India to launch on 12-Jun-2014. The LCCs greatest test or its most lucrative opportunity?
Myanmar international aviation outlook: after two years of rapid expansion, growth starts to slow
Cebu Pacific Air profits drop; PAL, Philippines AirAsia remain in the red. But outlook is improving
Singapore Airlines incurs 4QFY2014 operating loss, adds premium economy as latest strategic response
Singapore Airlines seeks to expand its partnership portfolio further following a spate of new deals
Tigerair restructures after recording a FY2014 loss. A Singapore Airlines takeover seems sensible
SilkAir 737 MAX fleet to open up network options while boosting Boeings narrowbody presence in Asia
Nok Air and Thai AirAsia profits fall in 1Q but continue rapid growth in response to new competition

Pg 14 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Southeast
Asia

SOUTHEAST ASIA HAS EMERGED AS ONE OF THE


WORLDS FASTEST GROWTH MARKETS. Low-cost
carriers have been at the forefront of growth and now account
for nearly 60% of traffic within the region. Several have
massive orders, with significant numbers still arriving in 2014
despite some deferrals. A dominant theme of the competitive
environment is the rapid escalation of the market share battle
between the big LCC groups particularly AirAsia and Lion
Air, plus to a lesser extent Tigerair, Jetstar and the emerging
VietJet.
The regions LCCs have been ambitiously adding capacity,
putting pressure on yields and load factors. Southeast Asias
full service groups have also been focusing on regional
growth, both within Southeast Asia and the wider Asia
Pacific market. While demand is relatively robust, there
are signs of overcapacity throughout including in most
domestic and short-haul international markets, as well as in
some medium-haul markets, particularly Southeast AsiaAustralia.
2014 is shaping up to be a challenging year for the
Southeast Asian aviation market. The region will again
have some of the worlds highest growth rates but lacks
the capacity discipline and rational behaviour exhibited by
airlines in other regions.
The short-haul market has become challenging, with the
rate of capacity growth far outstripping demand. There is
a risky element of strategic growth here too a process
that airline CFOs usually abhor as airlines jostle to secure
scarce airport slots and to establish first (or second) mover
advantage. The result is to jeopardise short-term profitability.

TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN SOUTHEAST ASIA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Lion Air

1,053,478

Garuda Indonesia

473,450

AirAsia

470,520

Vietnam Airlines

358,595

Malaysia Airlines

347,038

Cebu Pacific Air

323,967

Thai AirAsia

226,800

Thai Airways

217,782

Indonesia AirAsia

10

Sriwijaya Air

200,700
183,210

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN SOUTHEAST ASIA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Lion Air

1,058,000

Garuda Indonesia

557,922

AirAsia

543,240

Malaysia Airlines

524,369

Thai Airways

493,138

Singapore Airlines

473,605

Vietnam Airlines

407,767

Cebu Pacific Air

377,201

Thai AirAsia

Singapore

281,520

Other
0M

3,969,379
1M

2M

3M

4M

5M

SOUTHEAST ASIA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

809,696

Singapore Changi Airport

649,644

Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport

555,351

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport

536,412

Bangkok Don Mueang Int'l Airport

466,704

Surabaya Juanda Airport

444,575

Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport

438,579

Denpasar Bali Ngurah Rai Airport

317,205

10

Hanoi Noi Bai Airport

307,400

Pg 15 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1,308,360

The Singapore market in particular is experiencing


overcapacity, putting pressure on yields, load factors and
profitability. Rapid expansion by Singapores largest lowcost carrier, Tigerair, has been the main driver of the current
capacity situation. Tigerair Singapores ASKs were up 24%
in CY2013 as it added four aircraft, bringing its feet to 25
A320s. The carrier added two more aircraft in early 2014
but further fleet expansion has sensibly been put on hold as
the Tigerair Group has cancelled nine A320 orders and is
planning to sub-lease eight A320s.
The capacity added into the Singapore market during
2013 was clearly too much and it will take time to be fully
absorbed even with further growth being halted. In the
quarter ending 31-Dec-2013, Tigerair Singapores average
fares were down 16% while yields were down 11% and load
factor slipped a shocking 11.6ppts to 73.4%. The outlook for
2014 is now slightly brighter as it is no longer adding several
aircraft but the carrier continues to grapple with falling yields
and load factors.
Singapores other local LCC, Jetstar Asia, has not been
expanding at the same speed, with ASKs up by only about 5%
in 2H2013. The Jetstar Asia fleet, including aircraft operated
by subsidiary Valuair, expanded by only one aircraft in 2013
to 19 A320s. Jetstar Asia will not add any aircraft in 2014 as
the Qantas Group has announced the suspension of further
growth at Jetstar Asia. But Jetstar Asia will still be impacted

Continued red ink may start to test


the holding power of a couple of
airlines.

SOUTHEAST ASIA FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


2000

1,590

1,586

1500

1000

500

228
0

In service

In storage

On order

SOUTHEAST ASIA BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

2.0%
8.7%

13.8%

51.9%

23.5%

Narrowbody Jet
Regional Jet

Widebody Jet

Turboprop

Small Commercial Turboprop

SOUTHEAST ASIA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

10.6%

14.2%

59.7%
15.5%

Unaligned

SkyTeam

Star Alliance

Pg 16 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

oneworld

as the Singapore short-haul market continues to suffer


from overcapacity despite the recent adjustments, leading to
continued pressure on yields and profits.
Singapore Airlines (SIA) full service regional subsidiary
SilkAir has also been growing rapidly, with ASKs up by about
14% in CY2013. The carrier plans more double-digit capacity
growth in 2014 as it is expanding its fleet by four aircraft.
SilkAir began 2014 with 24 A320 family aircraft and will
end the year with 20 A320s and eight 737-800s. SilkAir, in
Feb-2014, took the first of at least 54 737s, which will enable
the carrier to double its fleet by 2021 and continue growing
capacity at an annual double-digit rate.
It is not just the LCCs that are hurting from the
competition. SilkAir yields were down 10% in 4Q2014 as
load factor also slipped by 5.3ppts to 70%.
Parent company SIA has been pursuing much slower
growth, with mainline ASKs up by only about 2% in
CY2013. Similar low single-digit growth is expected for
2014. SIAs yields have been down slightly in recent quarters
(about 2% to 3%) as the carrier has had to lower fares to
stimulate demand and maintain its load factor.
The SIA Group is focusing expansion almost entirely on
Asia Pacific, using SilkAir, new medium/long-haul LCC
subsidiary Scoot and SIA mainline. Scoot added two 777s
in 2013, giving it a fleet of six aircraft, but will take a hiatus
from expanding in 2014. The carrier will add one aircraft this
year, a 787-9 in 4Q2014, but has dropped its initial plan to
use it as a growth aircraft and has instead decided to use its
first 787 to replace one of its 777-200s.
While demand for services within Asia Pacific continues to
grow, capacity has been added too quickly, particularly in the
Singapore-Indonesia and Singapore-Australia markets. Scoot
serves three Australian routes and has significantly reduced
capacity to Australia by cutting frequencies and combining
some Sydney and Gold Coast flights. Qantas has also decided
to drop its Perth-Singapore service. More adjustments are
likely.
As Singapore has a population of only about 5 million and
is a relatively mature aviation market compared with other
ASEAN countries, there is perhaps limited opportunity for
additional stimulation in the local market. Transit traffic
remains a large and very important component, but with
other hubs in Southeast Asia also seeing capacity growth
outstripping local demand, competition for transit passengers
has become more intense.
Passenger traffic at Singapore Changi was up only 5% in
2013, marking the first time in four years that double-digit
growth was not achieved. Passenger growth is expected to dip
further in 2014, to between 3% and 5%.
Asia traffic for Changi, which was up 7% in 2013, will
again lead the way in 2014 but at the expense of yields.
Capacity is growing at a rate far exceeding supply, putting
pressure on yields and profitability. It will be a challenging
year for all five of Singapores passenger carriers.

Malaysia

Malaysias rapid growth from 2013 is unlikely to be


sustained. The country was one of Asias fastest growing
markets in 2013, driven by the launch of Lion Air Group
subsidiary Malindo and rapid expansion by the countrys
three main existing carriers. 2014 will see more rapid
expansion not at the torrid speed from 2013 but at a rate
which will likely exceed demand, putting further pressure on
yields and profitability.

SOUTHEAST ASIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


300

250

200

150

100

50

72
CARAVAN
DHC6
CRJ

A320
A330
SSJ
ARJ21

A350

A380

737

20
28

20
27

20
26

20
25

20
24

20
23

20
22

20
21

20
20

20
19

20
18

20
17

20
16

20
15

20
14

777

787

SOUTHEAST ASIA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

17.5%
29.3%
2.6%
4.2%

8.1%

8.4%
21.4%

8.6%
A320

737

A330

72

777

CARAVAN

747

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN SOUTHEAST


ASIA: 2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
80

57.8%58.9%

60
52.0%

40
30.9% 30.7%

32.4%

26.8%
23.2%
18.1%

20
13.6%
9.8%
3.3%
0

4.6% 4.0%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 17 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

Passenger traffic at Malaysia Airports grew by 18% in 2013


to 80 million, including a 17% increase in international traffic
and a 20% increase in domestic traffic. Malaysia Airports
manages all but one of Malaysias main airports.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) was the fastest growing
Southeast Asian flag carrier in 2013, with passenger figures
up 29% to 17 million. MAS increased ASKs by 17%,
driven primarily by expansion of its domestic and regional
international operation. The carrier was able to grow RPKs
by 27%, pushing up load factor by 6.3ppt to 81%. But MAS
adopted an aggressive pricing strategy, significantly increasing
the number of tickets sold at low LCC-like fares as it
responded to the launch of Malindo and intense competition
from AirAsia and foreign carriers. It does not have the cost
base to allow this sort of pricing over an extended period.
MAS incurred a USD360 million loss in 2013 as yields
tumbled by 13%, including by 16% in 4Q2013.
This is a dangerous strategy, despite being cossetted by its
government. MAS outlook for 2014 is relatively bleak as
yields and profits remain under pressure. Capacity levels will
increase further, with a focus on the regional international
market. While the rate of capacity growth will be slower than
the 17% figure from 2013, it is expected to again be double
digits (approximately 10% to 12%). Competition is too
intense to expect an improvement in yields and the MH370
incident makes an already challenging situation even more
difficult.
LCC capacity in Malaysia continues to grow rapidly,
putting pressure on all carriers. In 2013, Malaysias LCC fleet
grew by more than 30% from 73 to 99 as 26 aircraft were
added, including 11 aircraft at Malindo, eight at AirAsia
and seven at AirAsia X. Malindo, which launched services
in Mar-2013, is expected to add about eight aircraft in 2014.
Most of its expansion will be in the international market,
starting with several South Asia routes that were launched
in 1Q2014, followed in the second half by the anticipated
launch of services to North Asia.
Growth at Malaysia AirAsia and AirAsia X is expected to
be similar to 2013 levels, when Malaysia AirAsia recorded
an 11% increase in ASKs while AirAsia X ASKs were up
by 19%. But yields will continue to be under pressure. At
Malaysia AirAsia, the average fare was down 18% and
revenue per ASK was down 10% in 4Q2013. At AirAsia X,
revenue per ASK was down 15% in 4Q2013, including a 22%
drop on routes in which AirAsia X and competitors both
added capacity. This is an indication of the stiff competition
in the Malaysian market and the broader Southeast Asia
market.
AirAsia X is only planning to add three aircraft in the
Malaysian market in 2014 (as four of its seven additional
A330s are allocated to Indonesia and Thailand) while
Malaysia AirAsia plans to grow its feet by only four aircraft.
While these numbers are significantly down compared with
2013, both carriers added several aircraft in late 2013, which
will result in large capacity increases on a full-year basis
for 2014. As group AirAsia has significantly slowed down
expansion in 2014 by deciding to sell 12 of its oldest A320s
and deferring seven deliveries. But this did not lead to a
significant adjustment in its Malaysia capacity plans as most
of the aircraft that have been removed from the initial fleet
plan for 2014 had been intended for Indonesia and India.
Competition between the AirAsia, MAS and Lion groups
will further intensify in 2014 as Malindo expands into new
international markets. MAS will likely struggle as current

Capacity is growing at a rate far


exceeding supply, putting pressure
on yields and profitability. It will
be a challenging year for all five of
Singapores passenger carriers.

fare levels are unsustainable given its higher cost structure.


Malindo is unlikely to meet its goal in the short to medium
term of reaching break-even. Both AirAsia carriers are
attempting to cut costs and increase transit traffic in 2014 as
part of a bid to improve profitability despite the challenging
market conditions. AirAsia has a strong position in its home
market but faces some of its biggest challenges in recent
years.

Thailand

18%

PASSENGER TRAFFIC GROWTH AT MALAYSIA


AIRPORTS IN 2013

Pg 18 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

In Thailand, three new carriers will launch despite


challenging market conditions. Competition between the
AirAsia and Lion groups has also increased in the local
market. Thai Lion launched services in late 2013 with a fleet
of two aircraft and is planning to add at least eight aircraft in
2014. Three other LCCs are planning to launch services in
2014 Thai AirAsia X, Thai VietJet and NokScoot giving
Thailand seven LCCs, which is more than any country except
the US, which has eight.
The timing for the launches is far from ideal as yet another
political crisis, including frequent protests in Bangkok, has
significantly impacted demand in late 2013 and 1Q2014,
with worrying signs that it will not go away quickly. In the
past, the Thai market has recovered rapidly once restored
to stability. But there is a dangerous amount of new
capacity being added which will put pressure on yields and
profitability even under a more stable environment.
Thailands two main LCCs, Nok Air and Thai AirAsia, are
expanding as fast as Thai Lion. Thai AirAsia plans to add six
more A320s in 2014, giving it a fleet of 41 aircraft. It added
eight A320s in 2013 as ASKs were up 23%. Of the four
AirAsia short-haul franchises in Southeast Asia, Thai AirAsia
is growing the fastest as only two aircraft have been removed
from the original fleet plan for 2014, which envisioned eight
additional aircraft. AirAsias decision not to pursue a more
significant slowdown of growth in Thailand is somewhat
surprising given the unfavourable market conditions and is
an example of strategic growth as new competitors enter the
market.
Nok plans to add four aircraft in 2014, growing its feet to
20 aircraft (excluding small turboprops, which were dropped
entirely in early 2014 as they were operated by another carrier
that Nok has severed ties with). Overall, capacity at Nok is
expected to increase by more than 20%, representing only
a slight slowdown to 2013 when the level was up by 46%.
Both Nok and Thai AirAsia have remained profitable with
net profit margins of about 10% in 2013. But yields have
been dropping in recent quarters and market conditions
will deteriorate further in 2014 as more capacity floods the
market despite the unstable political environment. Revenue
per ASK was down by 6% at Nok in 2013 and by 2% at Thai
AirAsia. Thai AirAsia revenue per ASK was down 10% in
4Q2013, with the carriers average fare slipping 13%.
New Thai Airways regional unit Thai Smile, which
launched services in 2012, has also been expanding rapidly,
adding six A320s in 2013. Thai Smile plans to add another
seven A320s in 2014 for a total of 17 aircraft. Thai Smiles
ASKs more than tripled in 2013, albeit on a very low base,
while group ASKs were up 8% year-on-year. Similar high
single-digit capacity growth at the group is expected again in
2014. While Thai Smile will expand rapidly, there will only be
modest growth at Thai Airways. The carrier plans to shrink its
mainline fleet by six aircraft in 2014, as 13 aircraft are slated
to be phased out five A300s, five A330s and three 737-400s

Market conditions in
Indonesia have not
been helped by a sharp
devaluation of the
Indonesian Rupiah in late
2013, leading to a sudden
surge in costs, challenging
profitability.

while seven aircraft are delivered, including the carriers


first four 787-8s and three additional 777-300ERs. Thais
mainline ASKs were up 8% in 2013 but there are signs of
overcapacity as passenger yield was down 2% and load factor
slipped 2.5ppts including 5.3ppts in 4Q2013.
Independent regional carrier Bangkok Airways, with its
more conservative and focused strategy, is also in expansion
mode and plans to add five A320 family aircraft in 2014 for
a total of 22. The carrier already added two A320s at the end
of 2013 along with two A319s earlier in the year. Bangkok
Airways also operates eight ATR 72-500s, which it will start
replacing in 2H2014 with recently ordered new-generation
ATR 72-600s. But growth in the turboprop fleet is not part
of the carriers fleet plan.
Thai VietJet, meanwhile, plans to launch services by the
end of 2014 with an initial focus on the domestic market.
The combination of Thai VietJets entry along with rapid
expansion from Nok, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways and
Thai Smile poses a huge risk of overcapacity in Thailands
domestic and short-haul international market.
Thailands medium/long-haul market is also poised to
become significantly more competitive in 2014 as new
widebody LCCs Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot are launched.
Thai AirAsia X plans to launch services in 2Q2014 with
an initial fleet of two A330s while NokScoot aims to begin
operations in 2H2014 with an initial fleet of two 777-200s.
With Thailand becoming the first market to have two local
medium/long-haul LCCs, overcapacity in some markets such
as Thailand-Japan is possible over the medium to long term.
But this is not a big concern for 2014 as the two new
carriers will start small and there is a lot of room for LCCs
to penetrate Thailands medium/long-haul market compared
with the more mature and much more competitive short-haul
market, where 2014 could prove to be a bloodbath.

Indonesia

Pg 19 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Indonesia will also experience more growth despite a


challenging environment. Market conditions in Indonesia
have not been helped by a sharp devaluation of the
Indonesian rupiah in late 2013, leading to a sudden surge in
costs, challenging profitability. So far two Indonesian carriers,
Indonesia AirAsia and Tigerair Mandala, have responded
by slowing down expansion and cutting domestic capacity.
But the main domestic players continue to expand at an
aggressive rate.
Indonesia AirAsia has suspended fleet expansion and is
now planning to keep its fleet stable at 30 A320s in 2014.
The carrier originally planned to add six aircraft and the
adjustment in Indonesia is one of the main drivers of AirAsia
Groups decision to seek delivery deferrals and the sale of
some existing aircraft. Indonesia AirAsia added eight A320s
in 2013 for a total of 30, driving a 33% increase in ASKs.
Indonesia AirAsia still plans to pursue international
expansion in 2014 but this will come at the expense of its
domestic operation. The carrier plans to decrease the portion
of its capacity allocated to the domestic market from 40%
to only 30%. Indonesia AirAsia is already a relatively small
domestic player, with about a 5% share of the market, while it
is Indonesias largest international carrier.
Tigerair Mandala has suspended 11 of its 19 routes since
the beginning of 2014 and has reduced its fleet from nine
A320s to only four aircraft. The carrier initially planned to
add three aircraft in 2014 for a total of 12 A320s. Tigerair
Mandala hopes to restore some capacity later in the year but

AirAsia has a strong position in its


home market but faces some of its
biggest challenges in recent years.

The situation in the PhilippineMiddle East market looks


particularly ugly for 2014.

Pg 20 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

this hinges on an improvement in market conditions and the


potential sale to new owners.
Even if Tigerair Mandala does not recover and exits the
market, the impact will not be significant given its relatively
small size. The void left when much larger Indonesian carrier
Batavia exited in early 2013 was quickly filled by other
Indonesian carriers. Existing carriers should also be able to
fill most of the void left by Indonesian government-owned
regional carrier Merpati, which suspended operations in early
Feb-2014. Indonesias two main airline groups, Lion and
Garuda, have rapidly expanded regional aircraft operations
and continue to quickly grow their narrowbody fleets.
Garuda mainline ASKs were up 15% in 2013, including
16% domestic and 14% international growth, as the fleet
expanded by 15 aircraft. Double-digit growth is expected in
2014 as the Garuda mainline fleet grows by about another 20
aircraft.
A large portion of the fleet growth is at Garudas new
regional sub-brand Explore, which operates the carriers
new CRJ1000 and ATR 72 fleets. Garuda took its first five
CRJ1000s in 2012, added seven more in 2013 and will take
four more in 2014. Garuda took its first two ATR 72-600s in
late 2013 and will add six of the type in 2014.
Garudas new 777-300ER fleet will also grow from four to
seven aircraft in 2014. Garuda began operating 777-300ERs
in mid-2013 and in early Jun-2014 began using the type
to operate non-stop fights to Amsterdam. But Garuda has
dropped previous plans to also launch non-stop services to
London and will instead only serve Gatwick as a tag to its
Amsterdam service, which previously was operated as a onestop via Abu Dhabi using A330-200s.
Garuda budget subsidiary, Citilink, meanwhile plans to add
eight A320s for a total of 32. Capacity levels will also increase
as the carrier increases utilisation of its A320 fleet. Some of
the additional capacity will be allocated to the international
market as Citilink plans to expand into the international
market in 2014, initially with services to Malaysia, Singapore
and Australia.
Citilink added 10 A320s in 2013, driving year-on-year
ASK growth of 75%. Citilink has been facing some of the
same challenges as smaller Tigerair Mandala, incurring an
operating loss of USD60 million in 2013 while Garuda
mainline remained in the black.
Current market conditions are particularly challenging
for budget carriers in the domestic market. Yet Citilink
and domestic market leader Lion Air continue to expand
rapidly. The Lion group is privately held but claims to have
grown LCC passenger traffic by 15% 2013 to 32.9 million
(this includes Lion Air and Wings Air but excludes new
full-service subsidiary Batik Air, which carried 800,000
passengers in its first year of operations). The Lion group
plans to add 50 to 52 aircraft in 2014 with approximately 15
aircraft allocated to its affiliates in Malaysia and Thailand,
leaving 35 to 37 aircraft for Indonesia. This includes 15 to
17 737NGs for Lion, about 10 ATR 72s for Wings and 10
aircraft (four 737s and six A320s) for Batik. But these figures
are subject to change as the year unfolds; Lion has a very
flexible feet strategy and only finalises allocations among its
five carriers a few months prior to delivery.
While Indonesia AirAsia is taking a hiatus from fleet
expansion, new sister carrier Indonesia AirAsia X plans
to launch services in 2H2014 with an initial fleet of two
A330-300s. Indonesia AirAsia is less impacted by the rupiah
devaluation given the carrier has a much larger portion

of foreign passengers than its competitors. AirAsia has a


small and shrinking domestic operation in Indonesia but is
already the countrys largest international player, a position
the group aims to cement by launching the countrys first
medium/long-haul LCC. As is the case with Thailand, there
are opportunities to penetrate Indonesias medium/long-haul
market, while a bloodbath could emerge in the short-haul
market particularly domestically.

Philippines

Conditions in the Philippines domestic market are relatively more


favourable, thanks to consolidation.

Pg 21 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

In the Philippines, domestic market rationality returns,


but potential overcapacity looms in international markets.
Conditions in the domestic market are relatively more
favourable, thanks to consolidation.
Philippines AirAsia and Zest Air merged in early 2013.
Both carriers integrated their operations in 2H2013 and
now both operate under the AirAsia brand. The two carriers
began 2014 with a combined fleet of 17 A320s but the group
has decided not to pursue any feet growth in the Philippines
this year, keeping the fleet stable at about 17 aircraft. As with
Indonesia, AirAsia plans to reduce domestic capacity in the
Philippines while growing its international operation.
Market leader Cebu Pacific announced in Jan-2014 the
acquisition of Tigerair Philippines, which will leave two
LCC players (AirAsia and Cebu Pacific) compared with five
(AirAsia, AirPhil Express, Cebu Pacific Tigerair, Zest) at the
beginning of 2013.
AirPhil adopted the full service regional model after it
was rebranded PAL Express in early 2013. The transition
resulted in the PAL group having one rather than two brands
on domestic trunk routes, resulting in a significant cut in
domestic capacity for the PAL group and flat growth for the
overall Philippine domestic market in 2013. The additional
consolidation with AirAsia/Zest and Cebu Pacific/Tigerair
results in an improved outlook for 2014, ending a period of
irrational competition and overcapacity in the Philippine
domestic market.
Cebu Pacific plans to expand its fleet in 2014 by only four
aircraft one A320 and three A330s for a total of 52.
But the carrier aims to move four of its A320s over to new
subsidiary Tigerair Philippines, which had operated five
A320 family aircraft that are in the process of being returned
to Tigerair Philippines. With the Tigerair Philippines
fleet leaving the Philippines, the overall LCC fleet in the
Philippines will shrink slightly and end 2014 at just under
70 aircraft. Cebu Pacific, which grew domestic ASKs by 8%
in 2013, plans to increase domestic ASKs by 9% in 2014,
excluding Tigerair Philippines.
While domestic market conditions have improved,
overcapacity has now surfaced in the Philippines
international market. The situation in the Philippine-Middle
East market looks particularly ugly for 2014. Cebu Pacific
launched services to Dubai in Oct-2013 and its new longhaul unit is planning to add four to five new destinations in
the Middle East in 2014, as well as one in Australia, as it
expands its A330-300 fleet from two to five aircraft. PAL
and PAL Express, meanwhile, launched services to five
destinations in the Middle East in 2H2013 and plan to add
at least a couple more in 2014.
Overcapacity is also possible in the Philippines-Japan
market, as several Philippine carriers rush to add capacity
following a new air services agreement between the two
countries. Competition is also intensifying in the regional
international market within Southeast Asia a common

trend driven by rapid and at times overambitious expansion


of budget carriers, as well as growth by full service regional
subsidiaries.

Southeast Asias five smaller markets


Myanmar is another frontier market
with tremendous potential. But the
domestic market is over-served and too
fragmented.

Pg 22 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei,


Southeast Asias smaller markets, have similar challenges. All
five markets face potential overcapacity in 2014.
In Vietnam, competition from LCC VietJet Air is putting
pressure on Vietnam Airlines and the flag carriers budget
subsidiary Jetstar Pacific. VietJet Air plans to double its fleet
in 2014 from 10 to 20 A320s. There are huge opportunities for
growth in Vietnam but overcapacity is a risk for the domestic
market and on some short-haul international routes.
Myanmar is another frontier market with tremendous
potential. But the domestic market is over-served and too
fragmented, with seven carriers and a few more planning
to launch in 2014. Foreign carriers dominate Myanmars
international market, which has doubled in size since Aung
San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy won landmark
elections in early 2012. But Myanmar now faces overcapacity
and below average load factors as airlines have rushed too fast
in the wake of the market opening up.
Cambodia and Laos are smaller markets with growing
demand but have similar challenges due to rapid growth by
local carriers and several new services from foreign carriers.
Brunei, Southeast Asias smallest market, is more stable and
Royal Brunei could be the only flag carrier which experiences
an improvement in profitability in 2014 as it transitions its
entire long-haul operation to 787s by the end of the year.
But Royal Brunei is not about to become profitable anytime
soon. A majority of Southeast Asias main flag carriers and
LCC groups were profitable in 2013 but will likely see profits
fall in 2014 as stiff competition puts pressure on yields.
The overall fundamentals of the Southeast Asian market are
excellent as the regions GDP and middle class continue to
grow at healthy rates. There can be no doubt that the upside
for economic and air traffic are extreme. But coordinating
capacity expansion with such high rates of change is
extraordinarily difficult. The tendency to add excessive levels
of capacity in individual markets is further encouraged by
strategic goals, where emerging LCC groups are vying for
pan-Asian pre-eminence, while also making sure that they
and the full service airlines will be able to secure slots for
future expansion at limited-space airports.
In many markets, the expansion has predictably been too
fast, leading often to irrational competition. Even with the
fleet and capacity adjustments implemented in 1H2014,
some consolidation is possible in 2H2014, particularly among
the smaller and weaker carriers. But the predominant trend
will be aggressive competition between all types of carriers.
And potentially a lot of red ink as the battle for dominance
continues.

Southeast Asia
Selected Airlines

LION AIR PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
80

1. Lion Air

60

40

20

IN STORAGE
0

60

Airbus A320200NEO

109

Airbus A321-200NEO

65

ATR 72-212A(72600)

25

Boeing 737-300

Boeing 737-400

Boeing 737-800

26

17

201

68

79

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 787-8

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-82

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-90-30

96

12

561

Total:

28

26

27

20

20

24

25

20

20

23

20

21

20

22
20

20

19

20

17

18

20

20

15

16

20

20

14

20

20

787

*For group, not individual carrier. Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing
companies.

2500

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Boeing 737-900ER

737

3000

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

Boeing 737-9

72

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

A320

LION AIR STAGE LENGTHS

LION AIR FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

0
20

Lion Air is an Indonesian hybrid airline based at Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta


International Airport. Commencing operations in 2000 and based in Jakarta,
Lion Air is the largest privately-owned airline in Indonesia. The carrier
operates a network of scheduled passenger services throughout South East
Asia and the Middle East.

2000

1500

1000

500

-500

10

Flight Time (Hours)

LION AIR TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

17,892 seats

SIN - CGK
CGK - KUL

8,946 seats
5,964 seats

PEN - KNO
CGK - JED

4,522 seats
2,982 seats

SIN - SGN
PEN - MES

2,646 seats

KUL - BDO

2,646 seats
576 seats

SZB - HDY

432 seats

KNO - HDY
0k

Pg 23 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

22.5k

Southeast Asia
Selected Airlines

GARUDA INDONESIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

2. Garuda
Indonesia

30

20

10

A330

72

737

18
20

17
20

16
20

15

A320

777

CRJ

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

GARUDA INDONESIA STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1750

1500

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Garuda Indonesia is the national airline of Indonesia, based at Jakartas


Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. The carrier operates an extensive
domestic and regional network of services throughout Asia, Australia and
the Middle East. In Jun-2010, Garuda resumed services to Europe (initially
Amsterdam via Dubai) after an extended EU imposed ban.
Garuda has undergone a thorough restructuring in what it labelled The
Quantum Leap, which involved a dramatic redesign of the airlines strategic
direction, network, brand and fleet. The airline launched an IPO in 2011 which
was substantially under-subscribed at the relatively aggressive pricing
sought. In Apr-2012, the government announced that talks were under way
for a consortium of local investors to absorb the overhang, still held by the
underwriters.
Garuda Indonesia stated that in line with the airlines efforts to develop
and strengthen its network, especially in the domestic market, it is
launching a new sub-brand Explore along with the introduction of the
ATR 72-600 aircraft into the fleet. In addition to the sub-brand Explore,
Garuda Indonesia is also introducing the brand Explore Jet to operate its
Bombardier CRJ1000 NextGen fleet, serving the airlines network in both
eastern and western Indonesia.
Garuda Indonesia is the 20th member of the SkyTeam alliance.

20

20

14

1000

750

500

250

-250

10

12

Flight Time (Hours)

GARUDA INDONESIA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

GARUDA INDONESIA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

Airbus A320-200

15

Airbus A320200NEO

10

CGK - SIN

Airbus A330-200

11

CGK - JED

Airbus A330-300

CGK - HKG

Airbus A330-300E

17

CGK - BKK

ATR 72-212A(72600)

22

Boeing 737-300

Boeing 737-500

Boeing 737-800

67

10

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 777-300ER

Bombardier CL-6002E25(CRJ1000NG)

13

Total:

113

85

Pg 24 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

21,922 seats
7,536 seats
6,799 seats
5,460 seats

CGK - PVG

4,396 seats

CGK - NRT

4,396 seats

DPS - SIN

4,368 seats

CGK - KUL

4,368 seats
4,032 seats

CGK - PEK
DPS - MEL

4,032 seats
0k

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

Southeast Asia
Selected Airlines

AIRASIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
50

3. AirAsia

40

30

20

10

28

26

27

20

20

24

23

22

25

20

20

20

20

21

20

20

20

19

20

17

16

15

18

20

20

20

20

20

20

14

A320

AirAsia is a low cost carrier based at Kuala Lumpur International Airport,


Malaysia. The carrier, which was formed out of Tune Air in 2002, is led by
CEO Tony Fernandes and pioneered the cross-border joint venture in Asia,
establishing Thai and Indonesian units with bases in Bangkok and Jakarta.
The airline has also partnered with other airlines and investors to create
ventures in Japan and the Philippines. AirAsias extensive domestic and
regional network includes services within Malaysia and to China, Southeast
Asia and the Subcontinent.

Airbus A320-200
Airbus A320200NEO
Total:

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1500

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

AIRASIA STAGE LENGTHS

1000

AIRASIA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

*For group, not individual carrier. Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing
companies.

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

76

67

264

76

331

750

500

250

-250

Flight Time (Hours)

AIRASIA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

25,920 seats

KUL - SIN
KUL - DMK

17,640 seats
12,600 seats

KUL - SGN
KUL - HKT

10,080 seats

SIN - PEN

10,080 seats

KUL - HKG

10,080 seats

KUL - TRZ

7,560 seats

KUL - DPS

7,560 seats

KUL - KNO

7,560 seats

CAN - KUL

7,560 seats
0k

Pg 25 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

35k

Southeast Asia
Selected Airlines

SINGAPORE AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
25

4. Singapore
Airlines

20

15

10

A330

A350

A380

777

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

20

14

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

Based at Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines is the national


carrier of Singapore. Using a fleet of wide-body Boeing and Airbus aircraft,
including the A380 of which Singapore Airlines was the launch customer,
Singapore Airlines operates an extensive network across Asia, North
America, Australasia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Singapore Airlines
joined the Star Alliance on 01-Apr-2000.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


300

250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

200

SINGAPORE AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

150

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A330-300E

27

10

Airbus A340-500

Airbus A350900XWB

70

Airbus A380-800

19

Boeing 777-200ER

29

22

30

104

120

Boeing 777-300
Boeing 777-300ER
Boeing 787-10
Total:

100

50

-50

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

SINGAPORE AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

39,552 seats

SIN - CGK
SIN - HKG

32,816 seats

SIN - PVG

21,578 seats

SIN - SYD

21,224 seats
20,328 seats

SIN - BKK
SIN - LHR

19,244 seats
18,760 seats

SIN - MEL
SIN - DPS

16,464 seats

SIN - MNL

16,338 seats

SIN - PER

16,212 seats
0k

Pg 26 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

35k

40k

45k

50k

Southeast Asia
Selected Airlines

THAI AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
10

5. Thai Airways

A350

777

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

Based at Bangkoks Suvarnabhumi Airport with secondary hubs in


Phuket and Chiang Mai, Thai Airways is the national airline of Thailand and
majority-owned by the Thai Ministry of Finance. Using a fleet of narrow and
wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, Thai Airways operates an extensive
network of domestic and regional services throughout Thailand and Asia and
international services to Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Thai Airways is a founding member of Star Alliance.

20

14

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

THAI AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


600

THAI AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

500

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

Airbus A300B4600R

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE
5

ON ORDER
0

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

400

300

Airbus A330-300

Airbus A330-300E

15

Airbus A330-300X

Airbus A340-500

Airbus A340-600

Airbus A350900XWB

10

Airbus A380-800

ATR 72-201

Boeing 737-400

Boeing 747-400

12

Boeing 747400(BCF)

Boeing 777-200

BKK - SIN

Boeing 777-200ER

BKK - ICN

12,334 seats

Boeing 777-300

BKK - KIX

12,194 seats

Boeing 777-300ER

BKK - RGN

12,096 seats

Boeing 787-8

BKK - KUL

Boeing 787-9

BKK - HND

89

17

23

BKK - FRA

Total:

200

100

-100

10

12

14

Flight Time (Hours)

THAI AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

23,590 seats

BKK - HKG
BKK - NRT

15,554 seats
14,798 seats

10,872 seats
10,528 seats
9,768 seats

BKK - PVG

9,324 seats
0k

Pg 27 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

SOUTH ASIA analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Air India finally to enter the Star Alliance. Lufthansa now looks to escalate Gulf carrier rhetoric
CAPA India Aviation Outlook FY2015: Losses accumulate but AirAsia India, Tata-SIA undeterred
Indias airlines lost USD1.65 billion in FY2013. CAPA India Aviation Outlook 2013/14: Part 4
SriLankan Airlines raises global profile and expands oneworld presence in South Asia

Pg 28 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

South Asia A
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN SOUTH ASIA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

IndiGo

587,700

SpiceJet

345,060

Air India

338,832

Jet Airways

306,244

GoAir

167,220

JetLite

83,606

Pakistan International Airlines

50,058

SriLankan Airlines

45,880

Maldivian

23,368

10

Buddha Air

22,538

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN SOUTH ASIA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
IndiGo

616,500

Air India

454,452

Jet Airways

428,180

SpiceJet

357,888

Emirates

176,508

GoAir

175,860

Pakistan International Airlines

115,562

SriLankan Airlines

102,081

Qatar Airways

85,914

Other

1,166,129
0k

250k

500k

750k

1,000k

1,250k

1,500k

SOUTH ASIA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport

746,672

Mumbai Airport

653,098

Bangalore Bengaluru (Kempegowda) International Airport

296,368

Chennai Airport

261,696

Kolkata Netaji Subhas Chandra Airport

260,857

Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport

212,984

Ahmedabad Airport

100,064

Pune Lohegaon Airport

90,182

Goa International Airport

85,998

10

Kochi Airport

80,823

Pg 29 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

S THE INDIAN NATIONAL ELECTION


completes a major shift to a new BJP government,
with market-changing airline partnerships in train
and major new entrants arriving, the year ahead
promises to be no less eventful than any over the past decade.
The new government will have to address deep structural
shortcomings in the sector. Airlines continue to bleed while
the competitive environment intensifies with the appearance
of new entrants. Creative strategies are going to be needed;
equally there are massive strides to be made in improving
infrastructure to accommodate the inevitable high traffic
growth levels.
Indias airlines posted combined losses of around USD1.7
billion in the year ended 31-Mar-2014. Air India again
incurred the largest loss at close to half of the total. Jet
Airways and SpiceJet both reported record full-year losses.
GoAir was earlier expected to end the year with a
breakeven result or a modest profit but is also likely to have
gone into the red. IndiGo will be the only carrier to report
full-year profitability, but this too will be significantly lower
than CAPAs earlier estimates. Nevertheless, as the only
consistently profitable airline in India, the time may be
approaching to leverage this achievement and an IPO is
possible in FY2015.
Start-up carriers will place downward pressure on yields
and risks will peak for some carriers in FY2015. Indias
incumbent carriers can expect no respite on the competitive
front in FY2015, with several new carriers expected to launch
operations. AirAsia Indias entry into the market on 12Jun-2014 sparked a round of heavy discounting with fares
on some routes falling to below USD10 one-way including
taxes and surcharges. Apart from AirAsia India, Tata-SIA
is expected to commence services in 3Q2014, and a further
two to three start-ups are reportedly awaiting licences to
commence national and regional operations. The introduction
of additional capacity when load factors are already soft, and
the consequent downward pressure on yields, is likely to hurt
all carriers. Continued red ink may start to test the holding
power of a couple of airlines.
Downsizing by SpiceJet and freezing by Jet and Air India
on domestic routes will help in moderating capacity growth.
Fortunately the incumbent carriers are planning only modest
capacity increases this year. Jet Airways and Air India are
likely to freeze their domestic operations at close to current
levels for the near term. GoAir will take one more aircraft
in mid-2014 and then does not have any aircraft scheduled
for delivery until the first of its A320neos start to arrive in
2016, although it has been evaluating leasing some aircraft to
support growth in the interim.
And SpiceJet is conducting a detailed review of its
operations which has already resulted in a short-term
reduction of its domestic narrowbody operations. Question
marks continue over its long-term plans in the regional
segment, which has to date faced significant operational
and reliability issues. Domestic growth will be driven by
IndiGo which is expected to deploy six additional aircraft,
and AirAsia India, Air Costa and Tata-SIA which combined
could induct 18-20 aircraft. This is dependent upon the rate at
which AirAsia decides to expand which is currently uncertain.

Continued red ink may start to test


the holding power of a couple of
airlines.

SOUTH ASIA FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


800

700

584

600

500

500

400

300

200

63

100

In service

In storage

On order

SOUTH ASIA BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

8.7%

2.1%

14.6%

58.9%
15.8%

Narrowbody Jet
Regional Jet

Widebody Jet

Turboprop

Small Commercial Turboprop

SOUTH ASIA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

3.1%
8.4%

17.5%

71.0%

Unaligned

Star Alliance

oneworld

Pg 30 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

SkyTeam

In FY2015, the high-cost operating environment and


the continued weakness in the economy would suggest that
domestic traffic growth will be moderate, in the range of
6-8%, albeit slightly higher than the 5.2% achieved last year.
However, there is considerable uncertainty about the
potential impact of the new market entrants. If fares wars
are sustained, traffic growth could be stimulated above this
underlying rate; although this would be at the expense of
airline balance sheets. Domestic traffic performance could
therefore be volatile from month to month. But there may be
signs of a more sustained recovery from 3Q2015 onwards as
economic confidence has increased following the election of
the new government in May-2014.
International traffic on the other hand has been a strong
and steady performer over the last decade, even during
periods where domestic traffic has dropped into negative
territory. In FY2015 growth of around 10% is expected and
may approach 15% if the 5 year/20 aircraft rule is lifted and as
a number of bilaterals are relaxed.
Indian airlines are expected to post combined losses of
USD1.3-1.4 bn in FY2015. Losses could track further
upwards as some airlines have substantial major maintenance
checks scheduled this year, the cost of which will be higher
than the reserves currently held by lessors.
These profitability projections are subject to significant
external factors. We have assumed oil at an average of
USD110/barrel for the year (and this may be impacted by
instability in the Middle East) and an exchange rate in the
range of INR58-60 to the US Dollar. It also assumes that
pricing discipline will by and large be maintained. Extended
periods of aggressive discounting could lead to further
deterioration in financial performance.
Airline cash balances are in some cases at dangerous levels.
As at the end of FY2014 CAPA estimates that Indian carriers
combined had INR32.5 billion (USD585 million) of cash
on hand. With annual industry turnover in excess of USD10
billion this represents the equivalent of less than three weeks
revenue. And since almost 80% of the cash balances were
accounted for by just two carriers IndiGo and Jet Airways
the situation at some airlines is even more precarious.
One carriers cash balances are understood to have at times
dropped to the equivalent of less than one days revenue with
operations being sustained by borrowing from travel agents
against future ticket revenue.
Indian carriers, other than IndiGo, are likely to require
capital infusions of USD1.6 billion in FY2015 just to
stabilise their operations, let alone for investment in aircraft.
Air India accounts for more than half of this requirement.
Inability to access sufficient funds when required may impact
the operational integrity and customer proposition of some
carriers.
Foreign investors may take a wait-and-see approach for
now, with no new transactions likely until at least 3QFY2015.
Further foreign airline investment transactions involving
existing Indian carriers consequently appear unlikely in the
short term given recent losses and in light of the increasing
intensity of competition in the market. SpiceJet has reportedly
signed a terms sheet with a UAE-based investor, however
the ongoing challenges in the market may make it difficult to
close this deal.
GoAir, which has also been in the market for some time, is
similarly expected to face challenges in securing an investor in
the near term.

SOUTH ASIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


60

40

20

A320

A330

A350

777

787

737

20
25

20
24

20
23

20
22

20
21

20
20

20
19

20
18

20
17

20
16

20
15

20
14

YUN7

SOUTH ASIA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

20.0%
31.2%
3.1%
4.3%
4.3%
5.7%
5.8%
A320

737

25.7%
DHC6

777

72

DHC8

A330

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN SOUTH ASIA:


2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
80

60

57.0%
47.3%

62.3%
58.7%

50.0% 50.0%

42.8%
38.6%

40

22.7%
20

5.8%
0

0.1% 0.9%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 31 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

IndiGo remains the leading bright spot in Indian aviation,


with a potential IPO in 3Q2015 likely to attract significant
interest. IndiGo has successfully established itself as a
sustainably profitable airline, albeit its result in FY2014 was
below earlier expectations. The time may be approaching to
leverage this achievement and an IPO is likely in FY2015,
possibly in the third quarter. If it proceeds it is expected to be
the largest ever aviation IPO in India. CAPA estimates that
IndiGo could raise USD350-400 million from the flotation.
The offer is likely to preceded by a strong statement about
its future growth prospects with IndiGo expected to place
another large order for 200-250 aircraft at Farnborough in
Jul-2014 to meets its equipment requirements post-2025. The
carrier has a current fleet of 79 aircraft with an order book of
186.
For some carriers, the financing of aircraft already on
order may be challenging. Given the ongoing difficulties in
the operating environment and with the failed Kingfisher
experience still fresh, some banks and lessors remain
concerned about the level of risk in the Indian market,
especially as the provisions of the Cape Town Convention are
yet to be formally incorporated into the Indian Civil Aviation
Regulations.
Air Indias entry into Star Alliance is a positive
development however the new government must take
a serious look at the national carriers future. Air India
has made significant improvements across operational,
commercial and financial metrics over the last two years and
this is reflected in the decision by Star Alliance to formally
induct the carrier as a member on 11-Jul-2014.
However funding and ownership issues need to be
addressed. Realistic capital requirements are likely to exceed
earlier budgetary commitments. The Governments fiscal
deficit means it is already facing challenges in honouring
the funding that it has committed to the national carrier.
Under its proposed turnaround plan, Air India is expected to
require a further USD3.9 billion of funding before returning
to profitability. With the internal and external operating
environments having become even more challenging since the
turnaround plan was developed, these estimates are likely to
be conservative.
As a result, a practical and dispassionate approach requires
that all options be on the table, including privatisation.
The new government is expected to outline a clearer long
term bilateral policy. In FY2014, Jet Airways, Etihad and
Emirates were the primary beneficiaries of bilateral largesse
in terms of new access rights. Bilateral agreements with
Singapore and Dubai have also been renegotiated to permit
carriers to operate A380 equipment, previously barred from
Indian skies. The India-Germany bilateral is expected to be
similarly updated.
Additional Indian entitlements granted to Gulf carriers
are likely to be utilised to feed their rapidly expanding US
networks. And with the US pre-clearance facility in Abu
Dhabi expected to be joined by a similar one in Dubai next
year, and probably Doha thereafter, the Gulf carriers will
offer a very competitive and convenient product on IndiaUS routes. This is expected to hurt Air India as well as those
European airlines which are heavily dependent on US traffic
to support their India services.
Indias airport privatisation programme had stalled in the
lead up to the elections, and the sector is now awaiting an
indication from the government on how it plans to proceed.
The Airports Authority of India planned to award PPP

INDIAN DOMESTIC & INTERNATIONAL PASSENGERS FY2005 TO FY2014


(ESTIMATED)
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION, AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

ANNUAL EQUITY INFUSIONS IN AIR INDIA APPROVED BY GOVERNMENT


TO FY21
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION

US

CAPITAL INFUSIONS REQUIRED BY INDIAN CARRIERS

1.6lion OVER THE NEXT 12-18 MONTHS


bil

Pg 32 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

concessions for 15 of its most profitable airports, starting


with Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur
and Lucknow. However the tender process for these first
six airports has been stuck since Oct-2013 due to a lack of
preparedness with respect to the concession agreement and
the approved tariff structure.
The most significant greenfield airport project in India
is that for the second airport in Mumbai. Request for
Qualification documents for the repeatedly-delayed Navi
Mumbai Airport project were finally issued on 5-Feb-2014,
although a Request for Proposal document is not expected to
be sent to short-listed parties until at least Sep-2014.
Meanwhile the project continues to face a number of
challenges. These relate to land acquisition, the need for
complex preparatory earthworks at the proposed site and the
absence of convenient surface connectivity between Greater
Mumbai (home to the majority of the residents in the
Mumbai Metropolitan Region) and the airport. Meanwhile
cost estimates continue to be revised upwards as the
complexities of the project become more apparent.
The new government is however expected to provide a
strong push to encourage the development of 50-100 lowcost airports designed to increase regional connectivity to Tier
III towns. This is expected to be supported by a new regional
airline policy consisting of a package of incentives and
concessions to address the viability challenges that airlines
seeking to address this segment of the market have faced.
Indias regulatory uncertainty remains both a key concern
and disincentive to serious investors. The unpredictability and
lack of transparency in Indias regulatory framework remains
the greatest strategic challenge in the market. For example, on
the issue of new airline licences, there are no defined criteria
for whether, how and when applications will be assessed;
the process seems to differ depending upon the applicant.
The arbitrary nature of the timing and process of regulatory
approvals makes planning virtually impossible for start-up
airlines. And the economic regulation of airports is still
subject to some uncertainty.
Indian aviation will require billions of dollars of investment
over the next decade. But serious investors will be deterred
until India is able to develop a more structured and
predictable framework.
Indias newly-elected government has come to power
with a burden of expectation that it will revive the economy.
The administration has the opportunity to take some quick
and decisive steps to assist the aviation industry. Foremost
amongst these is a reduction in sales tax on fuel. This will
inspire confidence and signal intent while solutions to deeperrooted problems are developed. If the government is prepared
to finally take aviation seriously, it has the ability to take
decisions that will transform the performance the sector to
the benefit of the entire Indian economy.

South Asia
Selected Airlines

INDIGO PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
30

25

1. IndiGo

20

15

10

25
20

24
20

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

Commencing operations in 2006, IndiGo is a low-cost carrier based in


Gurgaon, India. The carrier, which is owned by Rahul Bhatias InterGlobe
Enterprises, operates an extensive domestic network and international
services to Bangkok, Dubai, Kathmandu, Muscat and Singapore.

20

14

A320

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

INDIGO STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

INDIGO FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT
Airbus A320-200

1500

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

16

Airbus A320200NEO

150

Airbus A321-200

20

78

186

Total:

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

78

1000

750

500

250

-250

Flight Time (Hours)

INDIGO TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

5,040 seats

DEL - BKK
DEL - KTM

2,520 seats

BKK - CCU

2,520 seats

BOM - MCT

2,520 seats

MAA - SIN

2,520 seats

DXB - BOM

2,520 seats

DXB - DEL

2,520 seats

DXB - TRV

2,520 seats

DXB - MAA

2,520 seats

DXB - COK

1,800 seats
0k

Pg 33 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

South Asia
Selected Airlines

SPICEJET PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
12

10

2. SpiceJet

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

SpiceJet is an Indian low cost carrier based at Indira Gandhi International


Airport, New Delhi. SpiceJet one of Indias largest airlines, serving domestic
destinations across India. The airline commenced international operations
in Oct-2010 and now provide services to Afghanistan, Maldives, Nepal, Oman,
Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and the UAE.

737

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

SPICEJET STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

SPICEJET FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

1000

AIRCRAFT
Boeing 737-8

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

42

12

Boeing 737-900ER

Bombardier DHC8Q-402(NG)

15

Total:

55

54

800

No. of Weekly Frequencies

0
34

Boeing 737-800

600

400

200

-200

Flight Time (Hours)

SPICEJET TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

4,224 seats

DEL - KTM
DXB - DEL

2,688 seats

AMD - DXB

2,688 seats

DXB - COK

2,304 seats
1,536 seats

PNQ - SHJ
DEL - KBL

1,152 seats

AMD - MCT

1,152 seats

CMB - IXM

1,092 seats

CMB - MAA

1,092 seats

MLE - COK

1,092 seats
0k

Pg 34 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

South Asia
Selected Airlines

AIR INDIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
5

3. Air India

777

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Air India is the state-owned national carrier of India with its main hubs
at Delhi and Mumbai airports. It established an international LCC subsidiary,
Air India Express, in 2005 and merged with Indian Airlines in Aug-2007. Its
network covers domestic and regional destinations, as well as international
services to Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

AIR INDIA STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

AIR INDIA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

1000

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

21

Airbus A320-200

17

Airbus A321-200

20

Airbus A330-200

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 777-200LR

Boeing 777-300ER

12

Boeing 787-8

13

14

Total:

92

10

17

800

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A319-100

600

400

200

-200

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

AIR INDIA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

8,372 seats

DEL - LHR
DEL - ORD

4,788 seats

BOM - EWR

4,788 seats

DEL - JFK

4,788 seats

RUH - BOM

4,788 seats

DEL - KTM

4,438 seats
4,230 seats

CCJ - JED
DEL - SIN

3,584 seats

DEL - FRA

3,584 seats

DEL - HKG

3,584 seats
0k

Pg 35 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

South Asia
Selected Airlines

JET AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
12

10

4. Jet Airways

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

20

17
20

20

20

20

737

787

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

1500

Airbus A330-300

ATR 72-212A(72500)

13

ATR 72-212A(72600)

Boeing 737 MAX

50

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-800

54

Boeing 737-900

Boeing 737-900ER

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 787-9

10

88

71

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A330-200

Total:

16

JET AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

15

JET AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

14

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

A330

18

Based in Mumbai, Jet Airways is one of the largest airlines in India with
hubs at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Brussels airports. The carrier operates
an extensive domestic and regional network within the subcontinent as well
as services to Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and North America.

1000

750

500

250

-250

10

12

Flight Time (Hours)

JET AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

8,736 seats

BOM - LHR
BOM - DXB

7,300 seats

BOM - BKK

4,368 seats

DEL - LHR

4,368 seats

BOM - KTM

4,128 seats

BOM - KWI

4,088 seats

BOM - AUH

4,088 seats

SIN - BOM

4,088 seats

SIN - MAA

4,088 seats

SIN - DEL

4,088 seats
0k

Pg 36 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

SOUTH PACIFIC analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
As many as 10 Southeast Asian LCCs are poised to enter Australia, further pressuring incumbents
The Qantas-Virgin Australia capacity/fare war is not over: WA decreases offset east coast growth
Qantas responds to deterioration: cuts 5,000 jobs & 50 aircraft but changes are overdue
Qantas pressing need to solve the Asian network dilemma, now its European restructure is in place
Qantas-Jetstar and SIA-Scoot dual-brand strategies challenged by SE Asia-Australia over-capacity
Virgin Australia: an important crossroad in our industrys history and 1H2014 loss as expected
Air New Zealand 2014 outlook: Long-haul expansion resumes as 787-9s and 777-300ERs are delivered
Air New Zealand enters its 75th year after posting largest profits and establishing growth platform

Pg 37 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

South
Pacific
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN SOUTH PACIFIC

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Qantas Airways

674,590

Virgin Australia

489,263

Jetstar Airways

325,431

Air New Zealand

303,716

Tigerair Australia

90,360

Regional Express

44,574

Air Niugini

44,540

Air Tahiti

25,570

Fiji Airways

22,292

10

Airlines PNG

14,940

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN SOUTH PACIFIC


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Qantas Airways

763,564

Virgin Australia

513,468

Jetstar Airways

367,404

Air New Zealand

304,055

Emirates

90,734

Tigerair Australia

84,960

Singapore Airlines

84,814

Air Niugini

49,428

United Airlines

49,104

Other

589,739
0k

200k

400k

600k

800k

SOUTH PACIFIC TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport

736,254

Melbourne Tullamarine Airport

623,636

Brisbane Airport

514,050

Auckland International Airport

309,116

Perth Airport

244,619

Adelaide Airport

174,904

Christchurch International Airport

136,262

Wellington International Airport

134,480

Gold Coast Airport

116,390

10

Cairns Airport

101,738

Pg 38 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1,000k

AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND AVIATION effectively


embraces a single market. But the contrast between
performance of their respective airlines over the past year
could scarcely be starker.
Qantas and Virgin Australia are headed for their worst
annual losses ever in the FY2014; yet Air New Zealand is on
track to make its best profit yet.
A common theme is, however, towards stronger and closer
international partnerships, often involving equity.
The coming year promises more of the same, with
the turbulence that has characterised the competitive
environment continuing to provide challenges to each of
them.
Air New Zealands reward for finding a better balance
was a record first half (six months to 31-Dec-2013) result of
NZD180 million (USD151 million) before tax, representing
a 7.7% margin, exiting from loss-making routes, higher
trans-Tasman load factors than competitors, and a more
streamlined fleet. Air NZ increased profitability on flat
revenue despite decreased capacity.
Unlike the much disputed Australian domestic market, Air
New Zealand thoroughly dominates its home territory, where
it generates the great bulk of its revenue.
It also holds a net advantage on the very large but highly
competitive market between Australia-New Zealand, where
its lower cost base and higher average load factors position it
well.
At the same time, the carrier also enjoys a 25% equity
share in Virgin Australia, securing an indirect stake in the
much larger business market across the Tasman Sea. Air New
Zealand is projecting a full-year profit, to 30-Jun-2014, of
over NZD300 (USD254) million.
Alliances are proving critical to Air NZ, unsurprising for
an end-of-line carrier, and have largely been enabled by the
New Zealand governments willingness to approve Air NZs
alliance applications. Its recently announced alliance with
Singapore Airlines supports its economics to Singapore as
well as onward connections to Europe and augurs well for an
emerging Asian strategy too.
These partnerships and ultimately long-haul growth
come after a period of not growing the network as Air NZ
optimised its long-haul network following losses associated
with the global financial crisis.
Air NZ is planning an average 5% capacity growth per
annum over the next five years, including an aggressive
8% in the near future. This hinges heavily on New Zealand
as a tourism destination, and a 6% visitor increase in 2013
is supportive of that objective. The listed airline remains
73% government owned, after renationalisation in 2001
designed to ensure the countrys tourism industry would be
effectively served. This reflects both the relative commercial
unattractiveness to other airlines of long-haul operations to
New Zealand, but also attractive corollary that the airline is
often able to fly under the radar where other airlines are
unable to mount sustainable operations into the relatively
small and price sensitive market.
Although its domestic market looks like remaining largely
intact, there are some potential threats internationally on its

Continued red ink may start to test


the holding power of a couple of
airlines.

SOUTH PACIFIC FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


1200

1000

878
800

600

400

221

200

41
0

In service

In storage

On order

SOUTH PACIFIC FLEET BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

10.1%
13.0%

33.3%

13.4%

30.2%
Narrowbody Jet
Regional Jet

Turboprop

Widebody Jet

Small Commercial Turboprop

As many as 10 new Asian airlines


will be entering the market or
adding extra capacity over the next
two years.

SOUTH PACIFIC CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

3.7%
17.2%

48.8%

30.3%

Unaligned

oneworld

Star Alliance

Pg 39 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

main non-stop route, to the US: United has announced a new


non-stop 787 service between Los Angeles-Melbourne, a
market which Air NZ has exploited successfully via its home
Auckland base; and rumours continue that Qantas oneworld
partner American will commence New Zealand operations.
There has been nothing under the radar about the
Australian market in recent times. A 46% increase in foreign
airline capacity over the past four years bears testimony to
that. It has been a very attractive market, with high levels
of outbound travel, something that has continued to push
Qantas international position into substantial losses.
The international market is not going to get any less
difficult; CAPA has identified as many as 10 new Asian
airlines that will be entering the market or adding extra
capacity over the next two years. These are mostly short-haul
operators, but they also include long-haul low-cost airlines
such as AirAsia X and its Indonesian identity, Indonesia
AirAsia X. Although they are unlikely to attack long-haul
markets like Europe, they will make one-stop access to a
burgeoning Asian market a highly attractive option to any
network that Qantas can develop.
But it was a surge of both domestic and international
capacity that largely contributed to Qantas underlying
PBT loss of AUD252 (USD226) million in the first half,
traditionally the stronger period. With a political bunfight
continuing over whether or not to end the outdated
ownership and labour protection provisions of the 20 year old
Qantas Sale Act, management announced 5000 full-time jobs
were to be eliminated over the next three years and 50 aircraft
orders and existing fleet to be cut or deferred.
This is a larger restructure than previous momentous
changes, reflecting a situation where negative conditions are
not just heightened but, according to CEO Alan Joyce, the
worst the company has seen in its history.

SkyTeam

The conditions have also galvanised Qantas to make


overdue changes. After bringing needed efficiency to its front
line employees, Qantas was left with a bloated back office.
Overall, Qantas staff are paid considerably more than at
Virgin Australia but are less productive.
There are capacity adjustments and, for now at least, a single
route cancellation (Singapore-Perth) to the international
network; more is required, but while staff are being cut,
there needs to be greater synchrony with airline operations if
efficiencies are not to be further eroded. A380 orders will be
deferred again. Ironically they may well end up with partner
Emirates.
Likewise for Jetstars last three 787s that it will defer; the
LCC subsidiary is focusing on short-haul flying, wise as more
efficient long-haul LCC capacity ramps up.
Jetstar remains intact including growth at Jetstar Japan
and continuing to work to launch Jetstar Hong Kong, but
Singapore based Jetstar Asia will suspend growth for the
time being. The highly profitable Qantas Loyalty programme
also remains part of the group, overall smart moves that may
not be welcome to unions (and some investors). Qantas will

SOUTH PACIFIC PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

40

30

20

10

20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17
20
18
20
19
20
20
20
21
20
22
20
23
20
24
20
25
20
26
20
27
20
28
20
29
20
30
20
31
20
32
20
33

72

DHC6

DHC8

A320

737

777

787

SOUTH PACIFIC MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

19.4%
34.3%

14.1%

4.6%
4.8%

737

DHC8

11.7%
5.0%

A320

6.2%

SAAB340

100

A330

72

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN SOUTH PACIFIC:


2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
50

40

37.4%

39.0% 39.4%

35.0%

30

28.1%

30.2%

31.1%

31.5%

22.6%
19.5%20.2%

20
14.9%
9.3%

10
3.8%
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 40 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

receive AUD112 million from an agreement with Brisbane


airport to sell and lease back its terminal, something that is
under consideration for Melbourne and Sydney too.
In Apr-2013, Qantass massive step towards rationalising its
international operations involved virtualising them through
an extensive partnership with former enemy Emirates; this
was a first step towards emulating the near-ideal virtual model
that Virgin Australia has developed through its equity and
operating partnerships with Air New Zealand, Etihad (20%)
and Singapore Airlines (20%), as well as a metal neutral JV
with Delta on American routes.
Meanwhile, at home, Virgin Australia has become not
just a virtual but a truly lethal competitor, eating away at the
larger carriers market share, attracting an increasing share of
corporate travellers and generally forcing a higher cost Qantas
into a discount war that has sapped the previous profitability
of the domestic market.
With the purchase of 60% of Tigerair Australia (and a large
part of the remainder owned by partner Singapore Airlines),
Virgin can now also lay claim in the domestic market to
a similar two-brand model to that of Qantas-Jetstar. The
resurgent Tigerair will ensure that leisure-oriented capacity
continues to increase significantly this year, while Virgin still
has more to say in the wider market share battle conversation.
The blame for Qantas woes are inevitably being laid
at the current managements door; but even if partially
justified, the main problem is the same one that plagues most
legacy airlines around the world, in this case compounded
by the end-of-the-line phenomenon that makes longhaul international service less sustainable almost in direct
proportion to the rate at which liberalisation is occurring. It
can also be argued that previous managements should have
taken bolder steps to cut unit costs. Whatever the cause, the
simple fact is that Qantas must change radically if it is to
survive as a viable full service airline.
The remainder of 2014 looks like more of the same. Qantas
will be in downsize mode, but forced at the same time to
grow domestic capacity, so long as it continues to adhere to
a strategy of maintaining its 65% share effectively meaning
that it must add two seats (or one ASK) for every one that
Virgin-Tigerair does. The capacity and therefore yieldreducing battle appears likely to continue, now against the
background of a softening economy and slackening leisure
demand. Temporarily at least Qantas has said it will not
expand capacity in the Sep-2014 quarter, as national budget
concerns have greatly dampened consumer confidence. This
leisure demand is likely although not certain - to pick
up once the initial shock passes through the system, but by
signalling its intentions there may be at least a brief lull in
expansion.
Virgin Australia, even with its strong equity backers (and
debt guarantors), cannot look to continue being loss-making
forever although it has now made clear to Qantas that it
can no longer be bullied into submission, so long as Virgin

The strategic bottom line for the


Australian and New Zealand
airlines alike is thus in establishing
deep and enduring airline
partnerships.

46

INCREASE IN FOREIGN AIRLINE CAPACITY OVER THE


PAST FOUR YEARS IN THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET

Pg 41 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

has its big brothers standing behind it. There is a poker game
being played out now, with hands greatly more equal than
previously. This may occasion a reshaping of strategies.
For Qantas, recreating the mythical level playing field with
Virgin now means removal of the restrictions in the Sale Act,
perhaps allowing it to establish a similar ownership structure
to Virgin Australias. This decision rests in the flaky hands of
politicians and even if the changes are made, they are unlikely
to make a major difference to Qantas until late in the year, at
the earliest. But it is a near certainty that the current media
noise will have been picked up at other airline managements;
it will not be surprising if Qantas becomes the target of some
interested buyers.
Air NZ remains committed to Virgin in the long term,
which must add pressure for Virgin to exit the red. The
CEOs of Air NZ and Singapore Airlines are taking a seat on
Virgins board, alongside Etihad. One outcome is that Air NZ
might be able to demonstrate the benefit of having exposure
to each part of the common market.
Aside from the perilous financial one, the strategic bottom
line for the Australian and New Zealand airlines alike is thus
in establishing deep and enduring airline partnerships, as
soundly and quickly as possible. Virgin Australia is furthest
along this route and is leveraging the benefits very effectively.
Always exciting and full of new surprises, the market is
unlikely to disappoint in 2014.
As noted above, there is also an ever present danger in the
Australian market of further entry by Asian LCCs such as
Lion Air. This has the potential to continue to encourage the
incumbents to cover as much of the field as possible, implying
that capacity growth must continue, even if it does endanger
profitability.

South Pacific
Selected Airlines

QANTAS AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
4

1. Qantas Airways

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

20

14

737

Qantas Airways is operated as part of the publicly listed Qantas Group. It


is the national airline of Australia with major hubs in Sydney and Melbourne
and secondary hubs in Perth and Brisbane. Using a large fleet of narrow
and wide-body Airbus, Boeing and Bombardier aircraft, Qantas operates
an extensive domestic and regional network within Australia as well as
international services to New Zealand, North America, Asia, South Africa and
Europe. Qantas is a founding member of the oneworld alliance.

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

QANTAS AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

2000

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

No. of Weekly Frequencies

QANTAS AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

1500

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

Airbus A330-200

10

Airbus A330-300

10

Airbus A380-800

12

Boeing 737-400

Boeing 737-800

62

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 747-400ER

Boeing 767-300ER

13

Total:

121

24

13

1000

500

-500

10

QANTAS AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

12,584 seats

DXB - LHR
LAX - SYD

11,802 seats
10,752 seats

AKL - SYD
SIN - SYD

8,766 seats

DXB - SYD

6,776 seats

MEL - DXB

6,776 seats

LAX - MEL

6,776 seats

AKL - MEL

6,720 seats
6,276 seats

HKG - SYD
NRT - SYD

5,026 seats
0k

Pg 42 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

South Pacific
Selected Airlines

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
16
14

2. Virgin Australia

12
10
8
6
4
2

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2000

1500

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

No. of Weekly Frequencies

IN SERVICE

1250

Airbus A330-200

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-8

32

62

23

Boeing 777-300ER

Embraer
ERJ190-100IGW(AR)

17

Total:

93

55

-250

Boeing 737-800

15

737

1750

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

Brisbane-based Virgin Australia is Australias second-largest airline and


one of the rare airlines successfully to have made a full transformation from
LCC to full service airline. Virgin Australia commenced operations in 2000 as
Virgin Blue, wholly owned by the Virgin Group, the countrys first surviving
true LCC, but has since moved away from that market. Under the leadership
of new CEO, John Borghetti, the airline rebranded in May-2011. Virgin Australia
now operates a full service model, targeting higher-yielding corporate traffic,
while seeking to maintain its core leisure market share and low-cost base.

20

14

1000
750
500
250

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
BNE - WLG

4,654 seats

BNE - AKL

4,654 seats
4,332 seats

SYD - LAX
BNE - DPS

3,580 seats

DPS - MEL

3,580 seats

PER - DPS

3,222 seats

SYD - DPS

3,222 seats

BNE - LAX

2,888 seats

SYD - NAN

2,864 seats

AKL - OOL

2,506 seats
0k

Pg 43 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

South Pacific
Selected Airlines

AIR NEW ZEALAND PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
10

3. Air New Zealand

A320

777

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

The national carrier of New Zealand, Air New Zealand is based in Auckland
and uses a fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Air New
Zealand operates a domestic and regional network within New Zealand and
the Pacific and international services to Australia, Asia, North America and
Europe. Air New Zealand is member of the Star Alliance.

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

AIR NEW ZEALAND STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

AIR NEW ZEALAND FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

2000

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

22

Boeing 737-300

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 787-9

10

49

17

Total:

1500

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A320-200

1000

500

-500

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

AIR NEW ZEALAND TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

12,580 seats

AKL - SYD
LAX - AKL

9,240 seats
7,726 seats

AKL - MEL
AKL - BNE

6,028 seats

SFO - AKL

4,706 seats

LAX - LHR

4,648 seats
4,256 seats

AKL - HKG
AKL - RAR

3,846 seats
3,664 seats

AKL - NRT
AKL - NAN

3,632 seats
0k

Pg 44 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

NORTH ASIA analysis reports:

Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation

North Asian aviation 2014 outlook: cracks in the wall of inertia - but it is yet to fall
North Asias airlines add capacity in 2014 as underdogs play catch up and short haul focus increases
13 Chinese airlines could each have a fleet of over 100 aircraft by 2020
Chinas reforms match frugality with low-cost airline innovation as a new script unfolds
Chinese airlines pioneer new international strategies: JVs to overcome internal limitations
China Southern Airlines to move long-haul focus from growth to sustainability and partnerships
Cathay Pacific annual results: after a lost year, Cathay sees itself back on track - but to where?
Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines cautiously welcome new hubs as Qatar & Turkish enter the fray
New runways for Tokyo Haneda and Narita airports would allow Japan to catch up to other Asian hubs
All Nippon Airways expects stronger 2014 performance due to efficiency and more international flying
JAL 2013 profit dented by yen depreciation and retrofit costs, but still an enviable 13% margin
Skymark Airlines will need significant strategic changes to avoid heavy A380 operating losses
Japans expanding LCCs drive growth but need cultivating; Spring Airlines and AirAsia re-entry loom
Asiana Airlines losses continue in 1Q2014 as capacity growth drags down yields despite fuel savings
Korean Air returns to profit in 1Q2014 on the back of yield recovery and cost discipline
Jin Air may become a long-haul low cost operator in 2014/15 and take the lead in Koreas LCC market
TransAsia Airways, growing at 20%+, now needs to ensure sustainability among strong competition
TransAsia names LCC V Air and Wei Hang. Cuddly bear becomes the dual brands low price image
China Airlines and TransAsia to start LCC subsidiaries as low-cost carrier fever spreads to Taiwan
Pg 45 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

North Asia
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN NORTH ASIA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

China Southern Airlines

1,847,660

China Eastern Airlines

1,751,022

All Nippon Airways

1,282,288

Air China

1,251,122

Japan Airlines

843,384

Hainan Airlines

635,514

Shenzhen Airlines

610,903

Xiamen Airlines

588,162

Sichuan Airlines

474,362

10

Shandong Airlines

430,218

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN NORTH ASIA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
China Southern Airlines

1,977,515

China Eastern Airlines

1,792,228

Air China

1,409,056

All Nippon Airways

1,395,615

Japan Airlines

976,020

Hainan Airlines

631,316

Korean Air

624,928

Xiamen Airlines

607,516

Shenzhen Airlines

554,957

Other
0M

8,006,897
2M

4M

6M

8M

10M

NORTH ASIA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Beijing Capital International Airport

1,809,010

Tokyo Haneda Airport

1,721,660

Guangzhou Baiyun Airport

1,090,674

Shanghai Pudong Airport

987,739

Shanghai Hongqiao Airport

978,839

Kunming Airport

822,726

Shenzhen Airport

821,250

Hong Kong International Airport

816,009

Chengdu Airport

801,207

10

Xian Airport

763,179

Pg 46 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

NORTH ASIA IS HOME TO MANY OF THE WORLDS


MOST VISIBLE airlines based on size (China Southern),
market capitalisation (Air China), profitability ( Japan
Airlines) and prestige (Cathay Pacific).
The regions airlines face an encouraging 2014, and are
certainly likely to fare much better than European peers.
The singular uniting theme for long-haul North Asian full
service carriers is the strong market to North America, where
corporate and premium travel is improving, while competitors
are fewer than on European routes.
China inevitably has become the cornerstone of the market
and what happens in that massive economy will shape the
region both in terms of growth and in the reshaping of the
airline industry.
Elsewhere the characterisation is more nuanced. Exchange
rates are sharply impacting Japan, where the yen is down
about 17%, while helping Chinese carriers with the
appreciating yuan. Regional tensions continue to plague
bilateral markets such as Japan-Korea and China-Japan.
In a region where LCC penetration is still very low (but
growing), there is increasing sensitivity about unprofitable
short-haul routes: Asiana (with a recently appointed CEO,
formerly with subsidiary LCC Air Busan) will introduce a
new single-class configuration, while Taiwans China Airlines
and TransAsia plan new LCC subsidiaries, adding more dualbrand strategies to the region. Except in Japan, liberalisation
has occurred more slowly in the still-largely protectionist
North Asia.
2014 will be a reflective, even possibly pivotal, year
for liberalisation within the region. Jetstar Hong Kong
continues to press for an operating licence while AirAsia is
exploring Korea and again Japan for subsidiaries. Foreigners
fear Taiwans newfound pro-LCC attitude will embrace
only existing Taiwanese airlines subsidiaries. And China,
concerned that airline growth may not reach previous
levels, has recently adopted a pro-LCC policy that supports
establishment of private low-cost operations, to speed things
along.
In Northeast Asia many factors are taken for granted.
Economies are growing, despite occasional slowdowns. The
middle class, and therefore travelling potential, continues to
increase exponentially. There are literally hundreds of millions
of Chinese achieving the economic ability and desire to
travel abroad in waves never before experienced.
Thus a distinct, and relatively new, uniting factor is the
improving strength of the North American market. Demand,
including from the corporate and premium sectors, is high.
Competitors are fewer than to Europe, and some of the
biggest carriers benefit from two broad joint ventures, those
between ANA and United, as well as between JAL and
American Airlines.
Southeast Asian carriers are beyond the reach of profitable
non-stop services to North America. Operating limitations
from the need for an extra stop as well as constrained bilateral
fifth freedom rights continue to limit Southeast Asian
capacity to North America. These features help immunise
their northern neighbours from added competition.
Southeast Asian carriers have a stronger presence in
the financially weaker long-haul markets of Europe, with
increasing pressure from Gulf carriers and a generally
crowded marketplace; even Norwegian is entering with
its long-haul 787 operation. Meanwhile, North Asian
carriers are fortunate to enjoy closer alignment with a wellperforming market. Additionally, Europe is open for many

NORTH ASIA FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


5k

4k

3,529
3k

2k

1,122
1k

140
0k

In service

In storage

On order

NORTH ASIA BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

2.9% 0.9%
4.9%

27.4%

63.9%

Narrowbody Jet
Widebody Jet
Small Commercial Turboprop

Regional Jet

Turboprop

NORTH ASIA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

11.3%
31.9%

25.9%

30.9%
SkyTeam

Unaligned

Star Alliance

Pg 47 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

oneworld

within A330 range, making the market more accessible.


Despite existing over-capacity and yield pressure, nearly
every major carrier in the Northeast Asia-North America
market will grow capacity during 2014, many American
Airlines, ANA, EVA Air at double-digit rates.
Every Northeast Asian carrier with widebody aircraft will
fly to North America, except domestic Japanese carriers Air
Do and Skymark, as well as regionally focused Hong Kong
Airlines, TransAsia and Mongolias MIAT. Skymark, which
suffered delays on its first A330s for domestic all-premium
service, planned to have A380s for a New York JFK service
in late 2014, but interior problems have pushed this back to
2015. Sichuan Airlines made North America (Vancouver) its
first long-haul destination. Xiamen Airlines may also follow
suit when its 787s are operating.
The result is the addition of more than 60% new capacity
on China-US routes between Sep-2011 and Sep-2014, the
bulk of it coming from Chinese carriers, notably Air China
and China Eastern.
For the Northeast Asia region as a whole to the US,
the increase over this period is a more modest, but still
significant, 28%, from 241,000 weekly seats to 310,000,
according to OAG data.
Europe-bound travel from China shows a relatively
substantial 51% increase over the 2011 to Sep-2014 period.
Much of the growth has come from Air China and KLM.
Europe-Japan growth has predictably been much more
limited, up only 17% over the three-year period to 69,000
seats weekly later this year again with KLM conspicuous
for its expansion.
But in short-haul, Northeast Asia lags in the liberalisation
that has characterised Southeast Asia in becoming such a
vibrant and dynamic market. This mainly impacts low-cost,
but also full service carriers: as a sign of the versatility and
experimentation in the south, the low-cost Lion Air Group
in 2013 launched hybrid full service carrier Malindo Airways
in Malaysia. The LCC penetration for travel within Southeast
Asia (58%) for the full year of 2013 was six times that for
travel within Northeast Asia (9%).
The advancement of LCCs in North Asia has been limited,
to the benefit of incumbents, unlike Southeast Asia where
LCCs, with low unit cost and higher frequency, have made
many short-haul routes unprofitable for full service airlines.
That challenge has generally been met by full service carriers
crafting strategies to complement their existing business
with low-cost subsidiaries rather than see their markets
irreversibly lost.
Northeast Asia had one liberalisation push at the end
of the last decade as Japan undertook significant reforms
partially prompted by JALs bankruptcy, coinciding with
the long awaited Tokyo big bang, as both Narita and
Haneda added new capacity, in part to overcome sagging
tourist flows. One outcome was a long overdue change of
regulatory direction, allowing the launch of three LCCs, all
in partnership with an existing Japanese carrier: Jetstar Japan
with JAL, as well as AirAsia Japan (now Vanilla Air) and
Peach Aviation with ANA. Jetstar Japan and Peach had only
minority interests from the full service airline, together with
other third party investors.
The granting of a licence to Chinese LCC Spring Airlines,
in partnership with Japanese companies to establish locally,
is further evidence of liberalisation progressing steadily,
as are the numerous open skies agreements and expanded
bilaterals Japan has signed that benefit the country, adding

NORTH ASIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
300

250

200

150

100

50

A320
ARJ21

A330
AN148

A350
A380
AN158
MRJ

737
CRJ

747
777
CSERIES

20
24

20
23

20
22

20
21

20
20

20
19

20
18

20
17

20
16

20
15

20
14

787
YUN7

C919
72

NORTH ASIA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

11.5%
2.3%
3.7%

32.8%

4.8%
7.8%

8.0%
29.1%
737

A320

A330

777

747

767

E190

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN NORTH ASIA:


2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
14

12

11.2%

10

9.5% 9.3%

8
6.8%
5.9%

6
3.9%

4
2.7% 2.7%
1.8%

2
0.8%
0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.6%
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 48 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

to short-haul competition and tourism. By contrast the


rest of Northeast Asia continues with conservative bilateral
strategies.
Jetstar Hong Kong could finally secure approval against
local opposition in 2014, after being announced in Mar2012. More speculative is AirAsia Korea, which has not yet
prevailed in that protected market. AirAsia plans to return to
Japan in 2015 with a base at Nagoya.
Taiwan has finally encouraged the development of local
LCCs about a dozen foreign LCCs already serve Taiwan
and in Dec-2013 TransAsia and then China Airlines
announced they would launch an LCC; in China Airlines
case, in partnership with Tigerair. The market remains
potentially lucrative to foreign LCC groups, but they are
sceptical whether Taiwans appearance of an open door to
LCCs is applicable to those not partnering with a local
carrier.
Imbalances between attitude and actions are also a concern
in China, which in late 2013 formally announced it must
encourage private capital in aviation as well as the fostering of
new carriers and in particular LCCs. But with airlines being
seen by Beijing as serving national interests, and the general
can-do attitude of China, the country is unlikely to cede
valuable territory to foreign companies looking to establish
local joint ventures. Government-led reforms in Chinas
sector are, however, ushering in a number of worthwhile
changes and new carriers, both private and LCCs.
As is typically the case, there is much to be gained from
liberalisation, but the influence of incumbents and nationalist
sentiments still inhibit change.
Four more dual-brand LCC/full service strategies will
be introduced in 2014. Short-haul services are starting
to experience the impact of incremental LCC operations.
Asiana is, for example, trialling an all-economy A320
configuration for thin short-haul services to Japan. This raises
the proposition that if moving from a dual-brand to singleclass aircraft is good for a route, further concentration on
cost-cutting is even better. The answer for four carriers has
been to establish dual-brand strategies.
China Eastern will have an LCC in the form of China
United Airlines, Juneyao with Jiu Yuan, China Airlines with
Tigerair Taiwan and finally (for now) TransAsia with its own
planned LCC subsidiary. China Southern is also exploring a
LCC with subsid Chongqing Airlines.
This will represent nearly a doubling in the number of
dual-brand strategies in North Asia. Although prevalent
in Southeast Asia, in the north they have previously been
confined to Asiana with Air Busan, Korean Air with Jin Air,
ANA with Peach and (now) Vanilla Air, JAL with Jetstar
Japan and Hong Kong Airlines with HK Express.
The range of integration at these existing dual-brand
strategies varies considerably. Peach is adamant ANA is an
interested, not controlling, shareholder. JAL and Jetstar Japan
take a strategic approach where each gives and takes. HK
Express is largely maintaining independence.
The small footprint of Air Busan and Jin Air shows
however that they are deployed only where necessary while
minimising full service cannibalisation even if they could
make more profit than their full service parents. This may
change if Air Busan does proceed with a planned IPO in
2015. Long haul operations from Korean LCCs will also add
to the dynamics of the market.
The new dual-brand strategies will likely be even more
diverse: China Eastern and Juneyao are planning for their

CHINA TO UNITED STATES, SEATS PER WEEK, ONE WAY, 19-SEP-2011 TO


31-AUG-2014

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG


80k

Seats per week

60k

40k

20k

0k

Jan-12
United Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Spring Airlines

Jul-12

Jan-13

Jul-13

Jan-14

Jul-14

Air China
China Eastern Airlines
American Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Hainan Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines

CHINA TO WESTERN EUROPE, SEATS PER WEEK, ONE WAY, 19-SEP-2011 TO


31-AUG-2014
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
125k

Seats per week

100k
75k
50k
25k
0k

Jan-12

Jul-12

Jan-13

Jul-13

Jan-14

Jul-14

Air China
Lufthansa
Air France
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Finnair
British Airways
SWISS
SAS
Hainan Airlines
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Austrian Airlines
Alitalia

JAPAN TO UNITED STATES, SEATS PER WEEK, ONE WAY, 19-SEP-2011 TO


31-AUG-2014
SOURCE:CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
150k
125k

Seats per week

100k
75k
50k
25k
0k

Jan-12

Jul-12

Jan-13

Jul-13

Jan-14

Jul-14

Delta Air Lines


Japan Airlines
United Airlines
All Nippon Airways
American Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
China Airlines
Singapore Airlines
Korean Air
Malaysia Airlines

Pg 49 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

LCC to operate well outside of their home base. Route


overlap will be minimal. The LCCs will effectively be a new
type of carrier to put in a competitors backyard. The question
for the medium and long term is how much future overlap
is permitted and if the carriers can or need to adopt a more
comprehensive dual-brand strategy where the LCC flies
alongside most of the full service carriers routes.
LCC units in Taiwan will have to be more integrated, if
only because geography confines them to a realistic operating
base of Taipei. China Airlines is mindful of the necessity of
short-haul connections for its long-haul network, but is also
well aware of many leisure point-to-point routes an LCC
could take over today. Segmentation will be challenging at
TransAsia, which operates only regional services and carries
mainly point-to-point traffic. Its small size 11 jet aircraft
is a further challenge to have scale. There is no easy solution.
Either overlap will be large or opportunities will be missed.
Both could use their LCCs on leisure-oriented secondary
city pairings between Taiwan and mainland China, where
existing full service carriers are challenged for profitability.
Such considerations make it easy for EVA Air to say an LCC
is not appropriate and it will not pursue one.
These will prove to be interesting case studies to the
dual-brand strategy textbook yet to be written. Further
contributions will be made from additional dual-brand
strategies that are surely on their way, especially in China.
Exchange rate changes close doors and open windows
but not at the same time. Exchange rates can be both friend
and foe. The appreciating Chinese yuan has greatly benefited
Chinese airlines net profits, even making many overlook
under-performing operating results. The declining Japanese
yen is so far a negative story for most carriers. Japan is an
outbound market: 2012, the most recent full year for which
statistics are available, saw 8.4 million foreign visitors to
Japan, while 18.5 million Japanese travelled overseas.
One argument is that if a weakening yen means fewer
Japanese are travelling, more foreigners can visit Japan. That
reflects the old adage of a door closing but window opening.
Unfortunately these do not happen simultaneously; there
is usually a lag. The yens depreciation is likely here for the
medium to long term, but Japan has years in some cases
possibly a decade ahead of it to recolour its reputation as an
expensive destination. Further, even three years after the great
east Japan earthquake and resulting tsunami and nuclear
power plant issues, some still perceive Japan to be unsafe.
The pressure is greatest on Japanese carriers. The Japanese
market has been strongly loyal to them, often paying fares
considerably even ridiculously higher than foreign peers
because ANA and JAL are Japanese and offer Japanese
service. Any growth in foreign visitors compensating for
declining Japanese tourists will not share the same affinity for
ANA and JAL.
ANA and JAL are further pinched as the depreciating yen
arrives just as they seek a larger international profile; ANA
expects to have more international than domestic ASKs after
2015. Foreign carriers recognise the situation was too good
and enjoyed the benefits of the high yen while they could
but now the inevitable reality returns.
ANA and JALs key long-haul market, to the US has, in
contrast to the China-US growth, been very muted, with only
around a 10% increase in the three years from 2011 to Sep2014. The pair of metal neutral JVs ANA-UA and JAL-AA
will almost certainly ensure that yields are protected in this
way (and, hopefully, also financial returns). This gives comfort

The outlook for 2014 is positive and fresh


opportunities remain.

Pg 50 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

as ANA and JAL plan more North American growth,


especially with the 787 to mid-size cities.
Within the region, tensions are confined but continue to
raise concerns. The China-Japan market suffered significant
decreases in Sep-2012 after Japan nationalised the disputed
islands of Senkaku/Diaoyu. 1Q2014 seat capacity is still
down 4.5% compared with pre-crisis levels in 2012.
But this does not reflect weaker load factors that airlines
have experienced. JNTO data shows Japanese passengers to
China declined 21% in the first 10 months of 2013. Oct2013 registered 8.6% growth compared with Oct-2012, but
this was after a 27% decrease in Oct-2012 compared with
Oct-2011.
Japan and Korea, meanwhile, have their own territorial
dispute over the Takeshima/Dokdo islands, with tensions
further inflamed by other factors, including the visit by
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to the Yasukuni war
shrine. Seat capacity in 1Q2014 was down 4.3% compared
with pre-crisis 1Q2013 levels.
Japanese passengers to Korea were down 24% in the first
10 months of 2013 compared with 2012. Passenger numbers
were even down in Oct-2013, whereas Japanese passengers
to China in Oct-2013 recorded a slight year-on-year gain.
Korean passengers were up 27% in the first 10 months of
2013, but the growth was not enough to offset declines in
Japanese passengers.
The total Japan-Korea market saw 4.7 million visitors in
the first 10 months of 2012 but only 4.4 million in the same
period in 2013. Depending how ongoing relations evolve
the Yasukuni shrine visit has flamed feelings and is still recent
the Japan-Korea market could rebound in 2014, much
faster than the Japan-China market.
Strong growth by Korean passengers has translated to some
better performance by JAL on Japan-Korea routes than on
Japan-China routes, but this is probably at the expense of
yield. Earlier in 2013, Asiana experienced deteriorating yields
to Japan. Other carriers in the market did not disclose yields
but likely had performances similar to Asianas.
These two political conflicts are the main ones involving
North Asian countries, but they are not alone. A smaller
conflict between China and the Philippines emerged in 2012
as well, and there are numerous historical differences that
could, very potentially, turn into another conflict. But most
countries seem eager to limit the extent of such issues, seeing
them as non-sequiturs that cause harm.
The outlook for 2014 is positive and fresh opportunities
remain. A level of robustness is necessary for an industry
characterised by volatility. Upsets in 2014 are, unfortunately,
likely. The crises of 2013, such as a bird flu scare in eastern
China and ongoing territorial issues, were handled well.
There are still lingering impacts but a way forward can be
seen. Unfortunately, it is now clouded for some by the
declining yen and aggressive new competitors, some in the
form of LCCs that carriers have previously not had much
direct exposure to.
The outlook for North Asian markets is positive in 2014,
yet it is not as strong as it could be. 2014 may prove another
year of missed opportunities. The stuttering spread of
liberalisation may not be sufficient to allow the potential to
be recognised. But the potential remains, implying that once
the chains are released, the pace of change will be that much
greater.

North Asia
Selected Airlines

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT


ON ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
30

25

1. China Southern
Airlines

20

15

10

A320

Established in 1988, China Southern Airlines is the largest airline in


China and has hubs in Guangzhou and Beijing. The carrier operates an
extensive domestic network within China, as well as international services
to the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. China
Southern has been a member of the SkyTeam alliance since 2007. China
Southern Cargo is the cargo subsidiary of China Southern Airlines. The cargo
subsidiary joined the SkyTeam Cargo alliance in November 2010.

IN STORAGE

777

787

19
20

18
20

17

737

C919

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


4k

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100

40

Airbus A320-200

111

Airbus A321-200

65

13

Airbus A330-200

16

Airbus A330-300E

10

11

Airbus A330-300X

Airbus A380-800

No. of Weekly Frequencies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

A330

3k

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

16
20

15
20

20

14

2k

1k

0k

-1k

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

Boeing 737-300

10

Boeing 737-700

33

Boeing 737-800

106

16

Boeing 747-400F

Boeing 757-200

14

ICN - DLC

7,518 seats

Boeing 777-200

CAN - BKK

7,485 seats

Boeing 777-200ER

CAN - SYD

7,434 seats

Boeing 777-300ER

CAN - LAX

Boeing 777F

CAN - SGN

Boeing 787-8

CAN - MEL

Comac C919

CAN - ICN

5,012 seats

Embraer EMB-145LI

CAN - KIX

5,012 seats

20

457

18

67

Embraer ERJ190100LR
Total:

Pg 51 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

7,084 seats
6,436 seats
5,740 seats

4,904 seats

ICN - SHE
CAN - DXB

4,592 seats
0k

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

8k

9k

10k

North Asia
Selected Airlines

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

2. China Eastern
Airlines

30

20

10

A320

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines is one of Chinas big three stateowned airlines, with hubs at Shanghais Pudong and Hongqiao airports, as
well as Kunming Airport in southwest China. The airline operates a fleet of
Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Bombardier aircraft to support an extensive
network, serving over 350 domestic routes and 40 international destinations,
including cities in Australia, Europe, Korea, Japan, North America and
Southeast Asia. China Eastern merged with Shanghai Airlines in 2010 and
joined China Southern in the SkyTeam Alliance in Jun-2011.

A330

737

777

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

20

14

C919

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


5k

4k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A300B4600R

Airbus A319-100

25

Airbus A320-200

146

14

Airbus A321-200

34

11

Airbus A330-200

24

Airbus A330-300E

Airbus A330-300X

Airbus A340-300X

Airbus A340-600

Boeing 737-300

16

Boeing 737-700

42

Boeing 737-800

34

51

Boeing 777-300ER

20

Bombardier CL-6002B19(CRJ200ER)

Comac C919

Embraer EMB-145LI

350

12

125

Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

3k

2k

1k

0k

-1k

15

CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

17,580 seats

HKG - PVG
PVG - SIN

11,386 seats
10,746 seats

PVG - ICN
PVG - KIX

9,490 seats
8,688 seats

PVG - NRT
PVG - CJU

6,888 seats

PVG - TPE

6,864 seats

TAO - ICN

6,594 seats

PVG - NGO

6,594 seats

PVG - FUK

6,462 seats
0k

Pg 52 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

10

Flight Time (Hours)

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

22.5k

North Asia
Selected Airlines

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
20

3. All Nippon
Airways

15

10

A320

Founded in 1952, Tokyo-based All Nippon Airways (ANA) is a major


Japanese airline with hubs at Tokyo/Narita, Tokyo/Haneda, Kansai and Osaka
airports. ANA operates an extensive domestic and international network,
with scheduled service to over 50 domestic destinations and 25 international
destinations across Europe, South Asia, East Asia and North America. In
addition to its mainline operations, ANA also controls several subsidiary
passenger carriers, including its regional airline, Air Nippon, charter carrier,
Air Japan, and LCC Air Next.

737

777

787

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

20

14

MRJ

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


4k

3k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

15

Airbus A320200NEO

Airbus A321-200NEO

23

Boeing 737-500

Boeing 737-700

12

Boeing 737-700ER

Boeing 737-800

25

Boeing 747-400D

Boeing 767-300

21

Boeing 767-300ER

26

Boeing
767-300ER(BCF)

Boeing 767-300F

Boeing 777-200

16

Boeing 777-200ER

12

Boeing 777-300ER

19

Boeing 787-8

27

Boeing 787-9

30

Mitsubishi MRJ90

15

192

15

96

Boeing 777-300

Total:

Pg 53 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

No. of Weekly Frequencies

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

2k

1k

0k

-1k

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

12,852 seats

HND - GMP
NRT - PVG

11,466 seats
7,576 seats

NRT - ORD
NRT - JFK

7,390 seats

HND - BKK

7,302 seats

HND - FRA

6,804 seats

HND - SIN

6,776 seats

HND - TSA

6,748 seats

NRT - PEK

6,720 seats

NRT - HKG

6,720 seats
0k

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

North Asia
Selected Airlines

KOREAN AIR PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
25

4. Korean Air

20

15

10

A330

A380

737

747

777

787

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Established in 1962, Korean Air is the largest airline and flag carrier of
South Korea. From its base at Seoul Incheon International Airport, Korean Air
serves extensive domestic and international networks. The carriers cargo
division, Korean Air Cargo, is the third largest cargo airline in the world
and it also wholly owns a low cost airline subsidiary, Jin Air. Korean Air is a
founding partner airline of the SkyTeam alliance.

CSERIES

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

KOREAN AIR STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

KOREAN AIR FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

1500

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

1250

Airbus A330-200

Airbus A330-200(HGW)

Airbus A330-300

Airbus A330-300X

10

Airbus A380-800

Boeing 737-800

19

Boeing 737-900

16

Boeing 737-900ER

Boeing 747-400

14

Boeing 747400(BCF)

Boeing 747-400ERF

Boeing 747-400F

Boeing 747-8

10

Boeing 747-8F

Boeing 777-200ER

18

Boeing 777-300

Boeing 777-300ER

12

12

Boeing 777F

Boeing 787-8

Boeing 787-9

10

Bombardier CS300

10

146

60

Total:

Pg 54 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A300B4600R

1000

750

500

250

-250

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

KOREAN AIR TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

17,488 seats

ICN - HKG
ICN - LAX

13,142 seats

ICN - BKK

12,951 seats

HND - GMP

12,868 seats
12,546 seats

ICN - NRT
ICN - PVG

11,556 seats
10,396 seats

ICN - FUK
ICN - JFK

9,772 seats
9,464 seats

ICN - MNL
ICN - KIX

9,256 seats
0k

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

22.5k

North Asia
Selected Airlines

JAPAN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
14

12

5. Japan Airlines

10

Based in Tokyo, Japan Airlines (JAL) is one of Japans two major flag
carriers with hubs at Tokyos Narita International Airport, Tokyo International
Airport, Nagoyas Chubu Centrair International Airport and Osakas Kansai
International Airport. Operating a large fleet of Boeing narrow and widebody aircraft, JAL has an extensive domestic network with regional and
international services to Europe, Canada, the United States, South America
and Australia. JAL is a member of the oneworld alliance. JAL exited
court-administered restructuring in late Mar-2011, after repaying all of the
reorganisation debts owed in a one-time payment on 28-Mar-2011.

IN SERVICE

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19

18
20

17
20

16

15

20

20

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

JAPAN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


3000

2500

2000

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

A350

No. of Weekly Frequencies

JAPAN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

20

20

14

IN STORAGE

1500

ON ORDER

Airbus A3501000XWB

13

Airbus A350900XWB

18

Boeing 737-800

11

Boeing 767-300

17

Boeing 767-300ER

32

1000

500

-500

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

Boeing 777-200

15

Boeing 777-200ER

11

Boeing 777-300

Boeing 777-300ER

13

Boeing 787-8

15

10

GMP - HND

10,332 seats

Boeing 787-9

20

NRT - PVG

10,332 seats

121

61

NRT - HNL

Total:

JAPAN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

10,032 seats

HND - SIN

8,022 seats

BKK - HND

8,022 seats

HND - TSA

6,888 seats

NRT - MNL

6,888 seats

JFK - NRT

6,244 seats
5,600 seats

NRT - PEK
KIX - TPE

5,600 seats
0k

Pg 55 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

14k

North Asia
Selected Airlines

CATHAY PACIFIC PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
20

6. Cathay Pacific

15

10

A330

A350

747

24
20

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

As the national carrier of Hong Kong SAR and based at Hong Kong
International Airport, Cathay Pacific is majority-owned by logistics
corporation Swire Pacific with significant shareholdings from Air China
parent CNAC. Using a fleet which includes widebody Boeing and Airbus
aircraft, Cathay Pacifics extensive network consists of services throughout
Asia, Europe, North America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Cathay
Pacific is a founding member of the oneworld alliance and wholly-owns
short-haul operator Dragonair.

777

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

CATHAY PACIFIC STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


400

CATHAY PACIFIC FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

350

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

300

ON ORDER

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

250

Airbus A330-300

11

Airbus A330-300E

15

Airbus A330-300X

11

Airbus A340-300X

11

Airbus A3501000XWB

26

Airbus A350900XWB

22

Boeing 747-400

11

-50

Boeing 747-400ERF

Boeing 747-400F

Boeing 747-8F

13

Boeing 777-200

Boeing 777-300

12

Boeing 777-300ER

39

14

21

137

91

Total:

150
100
50

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

Boeing 747400(BCF)

Boeing 777-9X

200

CATHAY PACIFIC TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

73,205 seats

HKG - TPE
HKG - SIN

36,000 seats
32,209 seats

HKG - BKK
HKG - ICN

24,330 seats

HKG - MNL

23,937 seats

HKG - NRT

18,785 seats

KIX - HKG

18,468 seats

HKG - LHR

18,112 seats
15,740 seats

HKG - KUL
HKG - SYD

13,988 seats
0k

Pg 56 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

10k

20k

30k

40k

50k

60k

70k

80k

90k

MIDDLE EAST analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Arab Air Carriers show that not all are created equal, but the rest of the world can learn from them
Etihad Residence highlights the UAE airline ascension in first class travel, while others cut back
Dubai International Airport: The worlds biggest in 1Q2014, but runway works reduce full year 2014
Emirates increases competition with Etihad and Qatar as it adds Chicago to its US network
flydubai has its second consecutive annual profit as network continues to overlap with Emirates
Air Arabia lags flydubai in the battle for Middle East LCC supremacy, but opportunities abound
Qatar Airways all-business London service. An attempt more likely to succeed than others were
Saudi Arabia aviation: an evolving market is about to undergo another rapid transition in 2014

Pg 57 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Middle
East
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN MIDDLE EAST

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Saudia

399,279

Qatar Airways

160,436

Emirates

Iraqi Airways

122,224

flydubai

119,259

flynas

95,700

Gulf Air

89,408

Iran Aseman Airlines

85,757

Iran Air

72,681

10

Air Arabia

67,240

137,170

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN MIDDLE EAST


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Emirates

966,302

Saudia

600,273

Qatar Airways

556,353

Etihad Airways

332,706

flydubai

171,612

Air Arabia

156,784

Gulf Air

137,262

Iraqi Airways

137,210

flynas

135,324

Other

2,186,336
0k

500k

1,000k

1,500k

2,000k

2,500k

MIDDLE EAST TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Dubai Intl Airport

471,488

Riyadh King Khaled Intl Airport

344,894

Jeddah King Abdulaziz Intl Airport

Doha Intl Airport

246,592

331,416

Tehran Mehrabad Airport

212,910

Kuwait Intl Airport

171,812

Bahrain Intl Airport

160,567

Dammam King Fahd Intl Airport

137,446

Abu Dhabi Intl Airport

109,739

10

Amman Queen Alia Intl Airport

104,187

Pg 58 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

3,000k

THE MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES TO DEFY global


trends, witnessing growth in demand and an expansion of
capacity at rates not seen in any other global market. Airlines
in the region will continue to outstrip global expansion in
passengers and capacity in 2014, cashing in on regional and
global economic growth, improving international passenger
traffic flows and increasing aircraft production. The main
battlefront will move to the US as protectionist reaction
grows.
At the forefront of the regions phenomenal success are the
Gulf sixth-freedom carriers, chiefly Emirates, Etihad Airways
and Qatar Airways. All three continue to exploit their natural
geographic advantage, which puts more than two thirds of
the worlds population within an eight-hour flight from
Dubai. Accompanied by supportive ownership and regulatory
regimes, they are growing local markets and applying new
aircraft technology and service standards to generate global
success.
The past two years have been about much more than their
intrinsic strengths however. From being outsiders to the
European established airlines, all three were admitted if not
welcomed with open arms into the inner sanctums of the
leaders of the global alliances, Star Alliance excepted. This has
shifted the course of alliance and partnership thinking, as well
as deepening their impact on global aviation.
Even SkyTeam leader Air France, the most virulent
opponent of the Gulf airlines, was eased into an increasingly
cosy partnership with Etihad. Emirates meanwhile joined
with oneworlds Qantas also a former staunch critic and
Qatar actually moved into the oneworld alliance, once its
competitors agreed to the compromise. Basically the position
arrived at applied the fine principle of si non cecidit, iunge.
Between them the three handled approximately 70 million
passengers in 2013 and are targeting double-digit passenger
growth for 2014, as they continue to add aircraft and
destinations. As their network power increases, each is now
targeting the Americas, as well as thickening routes in their
longer standing markets in Africa, Asia and Europe.
But there are differences that are much more than nuances,
each pursuing quite different business strategies. Emirates,
the Middle Easts largest airline, favours organic growth for
its fleet and network, augmenting this with local partnerships,
but only in codeshares.
Etihad Airways is building its unique and possibly
industry-altering equity alliance, which has now stretched
to seven airlines, with Alitalia also in the pipeline for 2014.
Even Malaysia Airlines has been rumoured as a potential
target for part acquisition. The carrier has created a massive
virtual network and fleet, aligning its schedules, fleet planning
and marketing (and even frequent flyer programmes) with
partners to achieve mutually beneficial goals. Etihad will look
to continue to expand its portfolio of codeshare and equity
partners until revenue from such agreements reaches about
25% of total income.
Qatar Airways joined oneworld in late 2013, with strong
support from IAG/British Airways, the only one of the
Big Three to so far enter a global alliance. The carriers
membership in oneworld gives it access to more than 1000

Despite the amount of capacity


arriving in the region, growth has
not been haphazard.

MIDDLE EAST FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


1500

1,211

1250

956

1000

750

500

250

109
0

In service

In storage

On order

MIDDLE EAST FLEET BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

4.8%

1.6%

9.2%

48.0%

36.4%

Widebody Jet
Narrowbody Jet
Small Commercial Turboprop

Regional Jet

Turboprop

MIDDLE EAST CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

8.1%

14.9%

14.9%

62.1%

Unaligned

SkyTeam

oneworld

Pg 59 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Star Alliance

destinations and will funnel many oneworld passengers


through Qatar Airways Doha hub. Its presence is another
example of how the Middle Easts airlines have been
increasingly drawn into the global alliance network.
The Big Three carriers are not doing all of the Middle
Easts heavy lifting alone though. National airlines and
smaller privately owned carriers are also expanding, if not
in quite the same spectacular fashion. These airlines, such
as Gulf Air and Oman Air, are covering the fast expanding
intra-Middle East and intra-Arabian markets, but they are
also expanding in the long-haul segment.
Carriers such as Middle East Airlines, Saudia and Royal
Jordanian Airlines are maintaining their anchor roles as
national airlines, but are also expanding and using their
alliance partnerships to generate traffic and revenue, the first
two in SkyTeam and Royal Jordanian in oneworld.
In addition to the full service airlines in the Middle East,
the regions small low-cost carrier segment continues to
stand out in terms of growth and also profits. Although the
sector remains under-developed by global standards, regional
LCCs are already evolving and hybridising, introducing
business-class cabins, new services and even taking on the
low-cost long-haul market for the first time.
According to IATA, growth in passenger traffic for airlines
in the Middle East was 12.1% for 2013 better than double
the global average. Growth was strong in both business and
leisure travel to regions such as Europe. Meanwhile, the
overall growth in international passenger traffic returned to
its long-term historical trend above 5% as global economies
and business confidence continued to recover, oil prices eased
marginally and airlines conservatively added capacity.
Growth for Middle East carriers in 2013 reflected not only
the recovery in international markets, but also the strong
performance of lynchpin regional economies such as the
UAE and Saudi Arabia. With a young population, increasing
propensity to travel, ongoing regional liberalisation and
expanding tourism opportunities, regional traffic growth is
proving just as an important component of the Middle Easts
expansion as long-haul routes are.
Long-term expansion is clearly in the pipeline. Airlines in
the region have a remarkable 960 aircraft on order, including
more than 600 widebodies, equivalent to 25% of the global
backlog, or twice as many as on order in North America.
Aircraft order books are unsurprisingly dominated by
Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, with 615 mostly widebody
aircraft on order between them. Low-cost carriers account
for better than 140 of the 330 narrowbodies on order in the
region, indicating the segment will continue to expand in
importance.
Despite the amount of capacity arriving in the region,
growth has not been haphazard. Airlines in the Middle East
have generally matched capacity to demand. Regional ASKs
expanded 12.4% in 2013, marginally higher than RPKs, and
load factors remained near all-time highs, at about 77%.
Regional yields remain below global averages, but consistent
profitability is emerging as a trend in the Middle East,
particularly as more privately owned airlines join the market.
Accompanying this, regional governments continue to
prioritise aviation, seeing the industry as a catalyst for local
development and diversification, delivering trade, tourism and
technological and economic growth.
Airline growth has also gone hand-in-hand with
infrastructure development in the region. Airport
infrastructure investment in the GCC nations alone over

MIDDLE EAST PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
200

150

100

50

787

33

32

20

31

A350

20

30

20

29

20

28

A330

20

27

20

26

20

25

A320

20

24

20

23

20

22

20

21

777

20

20

20

19

737

20

18

CRJ

20

17

20

16

20

15

20

20

20

14

A380

MIDDLE EAST MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE

the past 10 years has exceeded USD35 billion and this


investment only continues to grow to accommodate more
traffic. IATA estimates another USD40 billion is being
invested in aviation infrastructure by what it describes as
far sighted Gulf-region governments, which will allow
the airlines to sustain their double-digit traffic growth.
Infrastructure development is being concentrated at the
largest airports in the region, including Dubai, Doha, Jeddah,
Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Kuwait, Damman and Manama.
Dubai International is already on track to overtake London
Heathrow as the worlds largest airport for international
passenger traffic by 2016, even with the dilutionary effect
that the opening of the nearby Al-Maktoum International
Airport to passenger traffic late in 2013 will cause. Dubai
is undergoing an expansion that will see USD7.8 billion
invested to increase its capacity from 60 million to 90
million passengers per annum by 2018. Meanwhile, London
Heathrow faces capacity constraints and a drawn-out

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

Government controlled airports


have been less willing to move to
take advantage of non-aeronautical
sources of revenue, keeping fees and
charges above global averages.

22.5%

25.4%

3.9%
4.1%

20.2%

5.8%
8.1%
A320

777

A330

10.0%
737

A300

MD-80

A380

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN MIDDLE EAST:


2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
20

15.9%15.8%
15
13.3%
11.6% 11.3%
10
7.4%

8.3%

5.6%
5
3.5%
1.9%
0

0.1%

0.9%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 60 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

commission on the future of its development, with final


recommendations not due until summer 2015.
Despite the positives, invisible infrastructure and
regulatory barriers and inefficiency are hindering growth.
Not everything is smooth sailing for the airlines of the
Gulf. While airport infrastructure has seen unmatched
levels of development (regional governments may indeed be
overinvesting in airport capacity), airspace congestion is a
point of increasing concern. Airlines, airports, government
and other stakeholders have been urging for years that action
be taken to remedy bottlenecks that have started to emerge in
regional airspace, the invisible infrastructure.
Gulf-region ANSPs have already moved to introduce new
air corridors and are working to reduce restrictions on civil
aviation movement through military zones and introducing
better techniques and technologies to improve the capacity
and quality of air transport management. This may not be
enough though, merely spreading the bottlenecks beyond
the Gulf to neighbouring countries. More radical ideas, such
as the establishment of a pan-Middle East or pan-Arabian
air traffic control body similar to EUROCONTROL, have
already been proposed to ensure that airspace does not
throttle growth.
Also reining in growth potential is the heavy-handed
approach to regulation across most of the Middle East.
A few markets such as the UAE, Kuwait and increasingly
Saudi Arabia and Jordan, are encouraging deregulation and
commercialisation, but overall Middle Eastern governments
exercise tight control on bilateral air traffic rights, capacity
allocation, airport tariffs and fares, seeking to protect usually
inefficient and unwieldy flag carriers.
The region has a higher than average degree of government
ownership of airports and airlines. The privatisation of several
major national airlines has been completed or is ongoing,
but the processes have been long and drawn out, with

MIDDLE EAST AND GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL RPK GROWTH APR-2011 TO


DEC-2013
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND IATA
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

Ap

Ju

r-1
1
n11
Au
g11
Oc
t-1
1
De
c-1
Fe 1
b12
Ap
r-1
2
Ju
n12
Au
g12
Oc
t-1
2
De
c-1
2
Fe
b13
Ap
r-1
3
Ju
n13
Au
g13
Oc
t-1
3
De
c-1
3

0%

Middle East

International

MIDDLE EAST CARRIERS CAPACITY (ASKS) AND PASSENGER DEMAND


(RPKS) GROWTH MAY-2011 TO JAN-2014
SOURCE: CAPA CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND IATA
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%

Ma
y-1
1
Ju
l-1
1
Se
p11
No
v-1
Ja 1
n12
Ma
r-1
Ma 2
y-1
2
Ju
l-1
2
Se
p12
No
v-1
2
Ja
n13
Ma
r-1
Ma 3
y-1
3
Ju
l-1
3
Se
p13
No
v-1
3
Ja
n14

0%

ASKs

1%
12.

RPKs

GROWTH IN PASSENGER TRAFFIC FOR AIRLINES IN


THE MIDDLE EAST IN 2013

Pg 61 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

considerable social and political dissatisfaction associated


with any restructuring or downsizing. Regional governments
continue to prop up loss making carriers, although subsidies
are slowly being reduced or phased out all together for many
state-owned airlines.
Government controlled airports have been less willing
to move to take advantage of non-aeronautical sources of
revenue, keeping fees and charges above global averages.
Unlike Europe or Asia, there are few secondary or privately
operated airports in the Middle East to provide alternatives
to the major hub airports.
With such high levels of growth, skills needs are escalating
dramatically and training too remains a concern, across the
industry as well as at public institutions, to ensure that the
region not only has the operational skills but also sufficient
national oversight and safety regulatory competence to
accompany its expansion.
These constraints have created particularly high barriers to
entry for new airlines and foreign investment in the Middle
East airline sector is almost non-existent. Privately owned
LCCs have found the Middle East environment particularly
difficult, with several failures in the past few years. Of the
four LCCs in the region, flydubai is state owned and Air
Arabia was established by the Sharjah government, although
it has since moved to public ownership.
Further industry deregulation will continue, but the pace
will be slow. The talk is not always matched by the walk.
Saudi Arabia, as an example, has approved two new airline
operating licences for this year, but is not yet willing to fully
open its domestic market to large-scale competition. Opening
up the market to deregulation is expected to produce vigorous
competition, resulting in expansion of the regional market,
with better and lower cost services.
The Middle Easts aviation transport market will continue
to grow and to evolve, but increasingly the region is turning
into one of haves and have-nots. With massive investment
from interested governments, the region is assured a prime
position as a new centre of gravity for aviation. In the short
space of a decade, regional passenger traffic has more than
doubled, but power has been increasingly concentrated in
the hands of a few, fast growing carriers. The smaller airlines
of the region are adapting to the changing circumstances,
and there are signs of a new maturity emerging in regional
governments concerning their national airlines. The massive
subsidisation of loss-making state-owned airlines appears to
be drawing to a close, as the smaller national carriers privatise
or rationalise and restructure their operations.
The pace of deregulation remains slow and there is little
momentum to accelerate the change. Private carriers continue
to flourish in the limited spaces made available, but private
start-ups remain scarce in a region that should be welcoming
them.
The new global battlefront of the three major long-haul
Gulf carriers will move to the US in 2014. Now that much of
the venom has been removed from the attacks by European
airlines and replaced by partnerships, this year the heart
of the confrontation looks likely to migrate to the US. The

While airport infrastructure has seen


unmatched levels of development,
airspace congestion is a point of
increasing concern.

GLOBAL WIDEBODY ORDERS BY REGION

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

Pg 62 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

reaction of the major US airlines and the trade association


Airlines for America (A4A) to the Gulf airlines recent and
proposed increases in capacity and routes have been very
similar to those of the European carriers prior to the de facto
reconciliations of the past two years that is, protectionist,
accompanied by good doses of misleading information.
Delta in particular has adopted the crusade to resist further
incursions in every way possible.
Even though the US airlines are less impacted in terms of
hub challenges than their European counterparts, the steep
difference in international inflight standards of the US majors
as compared with Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, still makes the
threat to the status quo a real one.
The perceived threat is greatest where it raises the
competitive bar on North Atlantic routes, where the nowpowerful trio of antitrust immunised partnerships has
provided a platform for more rational competitive behaviour,
allowing at least a temporary profitability to emerge.
This is where Etihads initiatives in particular have drawn
the most ferocious fire. Spurious but no less ferocious
arguments against allowing preclearance in Abu Dhabi
(followed by Dubai) have been rejected by US authorities
(the risk was of diversion of Indian traffic via the Gulf, rather
than through the US carriers European partners hubs). But
the strongest opposition has been against initiatives to use
such liberal measures espoused in the first place by US
negotiators as third country codeshares and others.
That aside, there seems little reason why the expansion of
the Gulf carriers should slow in any way in 2014.

Middle East
Selected Airlines

SAUDIA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
12

10

1. Saudia

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

35

Airbus A321-200

15

Airbus A330-300

16

SAUDIA STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2000

1500

500

Airbus A330-300E

12

Boeing 747-300

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 747-8F

Boeing 777-200ER

23

Boeing 777-300ER

12

JED - CAI

Boeing 787-9

DXB - RUH

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-11F

JED - DXB

Embraer ERJ170100LR

15

125

16

-500

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

SAUDIA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

16,520 seats
16,368 seats
10,166 seats

CAI - RUH

6,444 seats

JED - CMN

5,782 seats

RUH - LHR

5,670 seats

RUH - MNL

5,629 seats

JED - CGK

5,301 seats

JED - LHR

5,214 seats

JED - KHI

5,130 seats
0k

Pg 63 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

20

15

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

Boeing 747-200F

Total:

787

1000

SAUDIA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

777

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Based in Jeddah, Saudia is the national airline of Saudi Arabia and is


wholly owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The airline operates a network
of domestic and regional services within Saudi Arabia and the Middle East as
well as Asia, Europe and North America from its main base at Jeddah-King
Abdulaziz International Airport.
Previously named Saudi Arabian Airlines, the carrier formally joined
the SkyTeam alliance on 29-May-2012, becoming the alliances 16th global
member and first member from the Middle East. Saudi Arabian also used the
occasion to re-brand, adopting its old name of Saudia.
Saudia has its own cargo division, Saudi Airlines Cargo, which services
over 20 destinations with a dedicated cargo fleet.

20

20

14

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

Middle East
Selected Airlines

QATAR AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
60

50

2. Qatar Airways

40

30

20

10

777

22

21

20

A380

20

A350

20

A330

20

A320

19
20

18
20

17
20

15

16
20

Founded in 1993 and re-launched in 1997, Qatar Airways, based in Doha,


is the national flag carrier, wholly owned by the Qatari government. Qatar
Airways is one of the Middle Easts big three network airlines, with
aggressive fleet and route network expansion plans. The carrier operates an
extensive network of regional services in Asia and the Middle East together
with international services to Australia, Europe, Africa and North America.
Qatar Airways joined the oneworld global alliance on 30-Oct-2013.

20

20

14

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

QATAR AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


700

QATAR AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

600

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100LR

Airbus A320-200

31

Airbus A320200NEO

35

Airbus A321-200

10

Airbus A321-200NEO

14

Airbus A330-200

16

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

500

400

300

200

100

Airbus A330-200F

Airbus A330-300

13

Airbus A340-600(HGW)

Airbus A3501000XWB

37

Airbus A350900XWB

43

DOH - LHR

20,797 seats

Airbus A380-800

10

DOH - DXB

20,679 seats

Boeing 777-200LR

DOH - KWI

Boeing 777-300ER

25

DOH - BKK

Boeing 777F

DOH - BAH

Boeing 787-8

13

17

DOH - CDG

13,258 seats

132

166

DOH - DMM

13,218 seats

Total:

-100

10

QATAR AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

19,080 seats
18,760 seats
15,156 seats

DOH - AUH

12,622 seats
12,136 seats

DOH - KUL
DOH - MCT

11,010 seats
0k

Pg 64 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

Middle East
Selected Airlines

EMIRATES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
60

50

3. Emirates

40

30

20

10

Founded in 1985, Emirates Airline is the national carrier of the emirate


of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is based at Dubai International Airport.
The worlds largest airline as measured by international passengers carried,
Emirates is among the fastest-growing airlines in the world, pursuing an
aggressive expansion strategy across all continents. The airline operates
a large fleet of all-widebody Boeing and Airbus aircraft and is the largest
customer for the Airbus A380. Emirates provides an extensive network of
services within the Middle East as well as to Africa, East Asia, South Asia,
Australasia, North America, Europe and South America. Emirates SkyCargo is
the air freight division of Emirates serving over 40 destinations.

33

32

20

31

20

30

20

29

20

28

20

27

20

26

A380

20

25

20

24

20

23

A350

20

22

20

21

20

20

20

19

20

18

20

17

20

16

20

15

20

20

20

14

777

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

EMIRATES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


500

400

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

Airbus A330-200

21

ON ORDER
0

No. of Weekly Frequencies

EMIRATES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

300

200

Airbus A340-300X

Airbus A340-500

Airbus A3501000XWB

20

Airbus A350900XWB

50

-100

Airbus A380-800

47

93

Boeing 777-200

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 777-200LR

10

Boeing 777-300

12

Boeing 777-300ER

94

58

Boeing 777F

10

216

224

Total:

100

10

EMIRATES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

35,210 seats

DXB - LHR
DXB - BKK

26,306 seats
24,424 seats

DXB - KWI
DXB - BOM

22,026 seats
21,126 seats

DXB - JED
DXB - KHI

20,720 seats
18,524 seats

DXB - CDG
DXB - SIN

17,402 seats

DXB - LGW

17,402 seats

DXB - MAN

17,402 seats
0k

Pg 65 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

35k

40k

45k

Middle East
Selected Airlines

ETIHAD AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
35

30

4. Etihad Airways

25

20

15

10

Founded in 2003, Etihad Airways is the national carrier of the emirate of


Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and is based at Abu Dhabi International
Airport. Operating a fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing
aircraft, Etihad operates a rapidly expanding network of services within
the Middle East and to Europe, Asia, North America, Canada and Australia.
In addition to its core activity of passenger transportation, Etihad earns
significant revenue from its cargo operation, Etihad Crystal Cargo. Etihad
Airways forms part of the Etihad Aviation Group.

A330

A350

A380

IN SERVICE IN STORAGE

25
20

24
20

23

ETIHAD AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


250

150

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100

Airbus A320-200

22

Airbus A320-200NEO

10

Airbus A321-200

Airbus A321-200NEO

26

Airbus A330-200

22

Airbus A330-200F

Airbus A330-300E

Airbus A340-500

Airbus A340-600(HGW)

Airbus A350-1000XWB

22

Airbus A350-900XWB

40

Airbus A380-800

10

AUH - BKK

Boeing 777-200LR

AUH - LHR

Boeing 777-300ER

20

AUH - JED

Boeing 777-8X

AUH - MNL

10,332 seats

Boeing 777-9X

17

AUH - JFK

10,332 seats

Boeing 777F

AUH - BAH

8,810 seats

Boeing 787-10

30

AUH - CGK

8,764 seats

Boeing 787-9

41

AUH - MAN

94

218

AUH - CDG

100

50

-50

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

ETIHAD AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

15,498 seats
14,008 seats
11,692 seats

8,540 seats
8,176 seats

AUH - KWI

7,616 seats
0k

Pg 66 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

No. of Weekly Frequencies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

Total:

20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15

A320

200

ETIHAD AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

20

14

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

AFRICA analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Africas ailing national airlines survive on USD2.5 billion of government subsidy. Not sound policy
EgyptAir plans further restructuring as losses mount. But outlook may brighten as Egypt stabilises
Kenya Airways to focus on Asia, with new Beijing and Shanghai routes, as 787s and more 777s arrive
Air Austral makes a remarkable return to profit, now with strong market positions on most routes
Air Seychelles returns to Paris while expanding partnerships and achieving second year of profits
South African Airways seeks UAE stop on Beijing & Mumbai with support from Emirates or Etihad
South African Airways premium economy product to be part of its long-haul restructuring: SAA Part 2
South African Airways pursues more growth in Africa including potential Ghana JV: SAA Part 3
Zambia provides fastjet with easier affiliate option than South Africa, Ghana, Kenya or Nigeria

Pg 67 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Africa
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN AFRICA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

South African Airways

218,946

Ethiopian Airlines

119,207

Kenya Airways

97,882

Arik Air

91,678

EgyptAir

91,496

Comair (South Africa)

76,220

Royal Air Maroc

74,375

Mango

56,484

Aero

54,268

10

Air Algerie

52,431

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN AFRICA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
EgyptAir

271,293

South African Airways

266,526

Royal Air Maroc

194,383

Ethiopian Airlines

186,559

Air Algerie

135,064

Kenya Airways

123,752

British Airways

107,866

Emirates

107,564

Air France

104,763

Other

1,863,483
0k

500k

1,000k

1,500k

2,000k

2,500k

AFRICA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Johannesburg Oliver R Tambo Intl Airport

374,012

Cape Town International Airport

168,999

Lagos Murtala Muhammed Airport

144,767

Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

120,113

Durban King Shaka Int'l Airport

107,221

Cairo International Airport

102,352

Addis Ababa Bole Airport

100,279

Abuja Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport

96,554

Casablanca Mohammed V Airport

83,069

10

Accra Kotoka Airport

66,568

Pg 68 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

IT IS TEMPTING TO REPEAT THE TRUISMS that


Africa continues to offer extraordinary potential upside.
With many of the worlds fastest growing economies and
weak surface transport infrastructure, aviation is an obvious
opportunity to support and accelerate that growth. Yet
unhelpful government interference and poor planning
continues to slow the promised expansion, leaving service
levels mostly weak and prices generally high.
There are however some bright spots as well as glimmers
of optimism: Ethiopian continues to expand with new fleet
generations, with five 787s in service, eight more to come
and talk of negotiations for another 10 777Xs; South African
Airways is full of hope that its new turnaround plan will
succeed (although it has a long way to go); Kenya Airways,
accepting its first 787 in Apr-2014, is recovering well from
last years catastrophic fire at its Nairobi Airport hub; and
would-be pan African LCC fastjet appears to be establishing
a viable foothold although it remains a fragile existence.
The other of the biggest four African flag carriers,
EgyptAir, is inevitably suffering the effects of continuing
uncertainty in its home country, although its governments
protective policies ensure that the carrier retains a two thirds
market share at its Cairo Airport base, but overall Egyptian
airport traffic numbers were down 20% in Feb-2014, a
casualty of the tourism downturn and airlines cutting services.
Long-haul operations are being squeezed by new
services by the Gulf carriers, at least on eastbound and
some European routes, making life increasingly difficult for
airlines drawing regional traffic through their home hubs
for long-haul onward carriage. As the Gulf carriers increase
the number of their spokes into their own hubs, airlines
such as Ethiopian and Kenya Airways lose their connectivity
advantages.
South African Airways (SAA) problems are different.
Unable to be a major collection hub due to its geographic
position, it has sought to develop a more regional presence.
It has instead chosen to partner with Etihad. This strategy
may well be adopted by others. Kenya Airways, part of the
SkyTeam alliance and a close partner of KLM, is increasingly
drawing closer to Etihad too. A reciprocal codeshare
agreement giving access to each others networks and paving
the way for greater collaboration and cost savings, was
established in Feb-2014.
Under its new strategic plan, adopted in late-2013,
SAA will increase operations within Africa while cutting
unprofitable long-haul routes and potentially handing more
domestic routes to low-cost subsidiary Mango. SAA could
also start operating alongside new partner Etihad on the
Johannesburg-Abu Dhabi route, using the capacity freed
up from axing highly unprofitable long-haul services, as it
increases its reliance on partnerships to provide a stronger
network beyond Africa.
However, the airlines new management is making further
noises to government about the need to address its weak
balance sheet, a product of extended carelessness by its
shareholder, accompanied by constant meddling. Part of
the new programme provides for a ZAR5 billion (USD468
million) government loan guarantee, but management says

Long-haul operations are being


squeezed by new services by the Gulf
carriers.

AFRICA FLEET

the airline does not have a sufficient capital base to take on


new debt. According to CAPAs Fleet Database, SAA has a
relatively modest 16 A320-200s on order.
The airlines new plan embraces principles, albeit tending
towards motherhood, that would seem appropriate for others
in the region to note. These include:

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


1750

1500

1,282
1250

1000

750

500

250

191

143

In service

In storage

On order

AFRICA BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

12.3%

37.6%

13.2%

However, the major hurdle that most governments will


have to overcome is the clearly unsustainable economic
condition of many airlines, with few original ideas to extract
them from this condition.
Africas unenviable record of government interference
in the continents aviation system is demonstrated by the

17.1%

19.8%
Narrowbody Jet
Widebody Jet

Support the countrys development agenda, achieve


and maintain commercial sustainability and foster
performance excellence;
Create an integrated airline group, SAA Group
Holdings, incorporating SAA, Mango and SA Express
under a single holding company structure to improve
asset utilisation, operational efficiency and capital
allocation;
Implement a new network, alliance and fleet strategy to
develop SAA as a full-service premium carrier, Mango
as a LCC and SA Express as a regional feeder airline.
This plan will allow the group to meet current and
projected demand, produce capacity through alliances
and implement integrated fleet planning;
Develop a Whole of State Aviation Framework to
ensure consolidated policy approach to aviation in South
Africa to maximise the growth potential of its airlines.

Turboprop

Small Commercial Turboprop

Regional Jet

AFRICA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE

(Nigeria) is an airline graveyard due


to the governments misconceived
protectionist policies.

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

8.5%
11.0%

54.4%
26.2%

Unaligned

Star Alliance

SkyTeam

Pg 69 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

oneworld

fact that no less than nine carriers are surviving only with
significant support of their respective governments through
a variety of financial support mechanisms collectively worth
about USD2.5 billion.
In most cases this support serves only to distort any
prospect of a level playing field, preventing privately owned
carriers from competing effectively. Nigeria was even
planning to take this a stage further as state support of
private carriers is being undermined by a desire to relaunch
a government owned national flag carrier, Nigeria One. The
recent sacking, by President Goodluck Hanson, of high
profile Minister of Aviation Stella Oduah in Feb-2014,
followed by the replacement of all senior management of the
main civil aviation bodies in Mar-2014, hardly augurs well
for a good short-term outlook for that major countrys airline
system.
Nigeria is a market that on economic and population
fundamentals should support a booming aviation industry.
But instead it is an airline graveyard due to the governments
misconceived protectionist policies. The combination of
interference and hostile attitudes towards private carriers
looks set to jeopardise prospects indefinitely.
In other cases, such as Uganda, new state-owned airlines
are planned to compete with successful privately owned
operators in markets that often lack sufficient demand to

AFRICA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
80

60

40

20

21

20

19

737

777

20

A380

20

A350
SSJ

20

18
20

17

16

A330
DHC6

20

DHC8
A320
42
YUN7

20

15
20

20

14

747

787

72

AFRICA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

23.6%

45.7%
9.8%
4.9%
4.4%
3.6% 4.0%
737

A320

DHC8

B1900

4.1%

CARAVAN

72

CRJ

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN AFRICA: 2011 TO


2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated

11.7% 11.8%

12
9.9%

10

10.3%

10.8%
10.5%

9.1%

6.9%

6
4
2.6%
2
0.3%
0

3.1% 3.3%

1.7%
0.6%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 70 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

support them both. Whatever the motives and many


of them are questionable at best the outcome is sadly
predictable.
While SAA has represented Africas most extensive
turnaround effort, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) at the opposite
end of the continent has been the most expensive to tax
payers in recent years. The flag carrier received a USD193
million bailout in 2011 and has access to a further USD900
million of on-going funding until 2016 as it repositions itself
to compete with an influx of LCC competition from Europe,
in particular Ryanair, resulting from Moroccos open skies
agreement with the EU aimed at boosting tourist arrivals by
1 million annually.
This conflict of objectives perhaps encapsulates many of the
problems that African governments have in their attitudes
towards maintaining a viable airline industry.
Despite this, private money has shown it is willing to
address some of the potential opportunities in the continent.
Low-cost intra-African operations would be a massive boon
to regional economic development, but the one genuine
LCC model, Tanzania based fastjet, is running into severe
headwinds as it seeks to expand into other countries. Plans to
grow in Zambia and South Africa are under way and a recent
GBP1 million injection of funds offered some short-term
relief; it may need more if it is to weather the stiff opposition
it is meeting in the air and on the ground, but the positive
news is that things are improving.

Africa Selected Airlines

1. South African
Airways

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
8

With hubs at Johannesburg and Cape Town, South African Airways (SAA)
is the flag carrier of South Africa and ranks among the largest airlines on
the African continent. The carrier is wholly-owned by the South African
government and operates an extensive network of services throughout
Africa and international services to North America, South America, Asia,
Australia and Europe. SAA became a member of the Star Alliance in 2006.

16
20

15
20

20

14

A320

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1250

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

Airbus A319-100

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE
11

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

16

Airbus A330-200

Airbus A340-200

Airbus A340-300E

Airbus A340-300X

Airbus A340-600

Boeing 737-300(F)

Boeing 737-800

12

Total:

54

16

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

1000

750

500

250

-250

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

6,797 seats

JNB - LUN
JNB - LHR

6,720 seats
6,640 seats

JNB - WDH
JNB - HRE

6,268 seats
6,070 seats

JNB - GBE
JNB - GRU

5,832 seats

JNB - JFK

4,438 seats

JNB - FRA

4,438 seats
4,120 seats

JNB - MUC
JNB - LAD

4,120 seats
0k

Pg 71 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

8k

9k

Africa Selected Airlines

2. Ethiopian
Airlines

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2

Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines is the national airline of Ethiopia.


One of the leading airlines on the African continent, Ethiopian Airlines serves
more than 60 international destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, The
Middle East, and North America, as well as operating an extensive domestic
and international cargo network. Ethiopian Airlines became a member of Star
Alliance in Dec-2011.

A350

737

777

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

20

14

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


250

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A350900XWB

12

Boeing 737-400(F)

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-800

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

200

150

100

50

Boeing 757-200

Boeing
757-200(ETOPS)

Boeing 757-200(F)
(ETOPS)

Boeing 757-200PF

Boeing 767-200

Boeing 767-300ER

12

Boeing 777-200LR

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 777F

ADD - CAN

Boeing 787-8

ADD - NBO

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-11(F)

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-11ER(F)

Bombardier DHC8Q-402(NG)

de Havilland of
Canada DHC-6-300

62

30

Total:

Pg 72 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

-50

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

10,458 seats

ADD - DXB
5,586 seats
5,460 seats

ADD - LOS

4,494 seats

ADD - PEK

4,494 seats

ADD - ABV

4,494 seats

JNB - ADD

4,494 seats

ADD - EBB

4,165 seats
3,870 seats

ADD - PVG
ADD - JRO

3,850 seats
0k

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

14k

Africa Selected Airlines

3. Kenya Airways

KENYA AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
8

The Pride of Africa


2

KENYA AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

777

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

KENYA AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

0
20

Addis Ababa-based Ethiopian Airlines is the national airline of Ethiopia.


Pride
Africa
One of the leadingThe
airlines
on theof
African
continent, Ethiopian Airlines serves
more than 60 international destinations across Africa, Asia, Europe, The
Middle East, and North America, as well as operating an extensive domestic
and international cargo network. Ethiopian Airlines became a member of Star
Alliance in Dec-2011.

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Boeing 737-300(F)

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-800

Boeing
737-800(ETOPS)

Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 787-8

Embraer ERJ170100LR

Embraer ERJ170100STD

Embraer
ERJ190-100IGW(AR)

14

Total:

62

30

600

500

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Boeing 737-300

400

300

200

100

-100

12

KENYA AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

6,720 seats

NBO - DAR
NBO - EBB

6,576 seats

NBO - JNB

6,568 seats

NBO - BOM

5,098 seats

NBO - AMS

4,508 seats

NBO - LHR

4,508 seats

NBO - KGL

3,144 seats

NBO - BJM

3,096 seats

NBO - BKK

3,024 seats

NBO - JUB

3,024 seats
0k

Pg 73 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

10

Flight Time (Hours)

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

8k

9k

EASTERN EUROPE analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Wizz Air: London share listing planned after three-fold profit increase for the ultra-LCC
Russias low air travel penetration augurs well for the aviation market - and for Aeroflot
Aeroflot SWOT analysis. Russias national champion is well positioned to confront new challenges
Dobrolet nears take-off, but can Aeroflots LCC subsidiary achieve the required cost structure?
Massive capacity expansion is planned for Istanbul airports, with competing private interests
Turkish Airlines: capacity and network growth stay strong in 2013; profit growth is more challenging
Turkish Airlines suffers bigger 1Q losses, but continues to focus on profit, profit, profit
Pegasus Airlines must not let worsening quarterly profitability become a new trend
Ukraine International Airlines to cut fleet by 25% but network expansion continues

Pg 74 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Eastern
Europe

N GENERAL, EASTERN EUROPE TENDS TO


OUTPACE THE WESTERN PART OF the continent,
with Turkey and Russia preeminent among the major
leaders.
Turkey, home to high growth LCC Pegasus Airlines and
Europes fastest growing FSC Turkish Airlines, saw the
highest growth in the number of flights in 2013 and will be
looking to retain its quasi-Gulf expansion status in 2014.
Istanbul Ataturk was the only airport in Europes top 10 to
experience an increase in the number of flights. Both leading
Turkish carriers plan to continue double digit growth in 2014.
The strength of demand in Eastern Europe is also evident
in Russia, for example, where IATA says domestic RPKs grew
by 9.6% in 2013. The relatively low penetration of air travel in
Eastern and Central Europe, compared with Western Europe,
should ensure that its growth remains superior to that of the
West for some time to come. For Russia this should be the
case as Aeroflots new LCC subsidiary enters the market and
the Government moves to reduce regulatory constraints on
the sector.
Eurocontrol expects countries in Eastern Europe once
again to enjoy the continents highest growth, led by Armenia
(12%), Moldova (11.0%), Georgia (9.6%), Belarus (7.0%),
Ukraine (6.4%) and Turkey (6.1%).

TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN EASTERN EUROPE

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Turkish Airlines

656,451

Aeroflot

490,281

Pegasus Airlines

357,264

S7 Airlines

211,097

Aegean Airlines

153,988

UTair Aviation

128,738

Transaero Airlines

123,937

Onur Air

79,098

Ural Airlines

65,078

10

Atlasjet

59,334

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN EASTERN EUROPE

EASTERN EUROPE FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


Turkish Airlines

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | WEEK STARTING 05-MAY-2014

1,287,410

Aeroflot

3000

760,454

2,355

2500

Pegasus Airlines

465,777

Ryanair

367,038

Wizz Air

2000

329,040
1500

Lufthansa

281,960

S7 Airlines

255,531

Transaero Airlines

223,485

Aegean Airlines

222,364

1000

500

229

Other

3,411,046
0k

500k

800

In service

1,000k 1,500k 2,000k 2,500k 3,000k 3,500k 4,000k 4,500k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | WEEK STARTING 05-MAY-2014

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

4.0%

SEATS

Istanbul Ataturk Airport

621,998

Moscow Domodedovo Airport

425,683

Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport

419,887

Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport

381,822

Ankara Esenboga Airport

225,853

Athens International Airport

214,457

Moscow Vnukovo Airport

211,589

Saint Petersburg Pulkovo Airport

197,542

Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport

164,819

10

Antalya Airport

152,343

Pg 75 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

On order

EASTERN EUROPE BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE

EASTERN EUROPE TOP 10 AIRPORTS


RANKING AIRPORT NAME

In storage

10.3%

11.0%

56.6%
18.0%

Narrowbody Jet
Turboprop
Small Commercial Turboprop

Regional Jet

Widebody Jet

EASTERN EUROPE CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE

EASTERN EUROPE MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

6.7%
14.8%

25.1%

35.3%

48.7%

2.5%
3.2%
3.5%

29.8%

Unaligned

Star Alliance

SkyTeam

A320

oneworld

737

21.9%
3.9%

AN24

4.5%

AN26

TU154

CRJ

A330

EASTERN EUROPE PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN EASTERN


EUROPE: 2011 TO 2014*

200

20

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

Other

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG


*Year to Month indicated; Excluding Russia

150

16.1%
15.3%

15

11.5%
100

10

6.7%
50

5.3% 5.1%

5
2.9%

A330
777

A350
A380
CRJ
CSERIES
787
747
SSJ
E190
E195

Pg 76 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

25
20

24

23

20

20

22
20

21
20

20

19

20

20

18
20

17
20

16

15

A320
737

20

20

20

14

AN148
TU204
42
MS21
YUN7

0.6%
0

7.1% 7.0%

0.9%

2.8%

1.6%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

JanMay
2014

Eastern Europe
Selected Airlines

TURKISH AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
60

50

1. Turkish Airlines

40

30

20

10

A320

A330

737

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Based at Istanbuls Ataturk International Airport, with secondary hubs at


Esenboga International Airport and Adnan Menderes International Airport,
Turkish Airlines (THY) is the national airline of Turkey and the countrys
largest carrier. The carrier operates a network of domestic and regional
services throughout Turkey and the Middle East and international services
to Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Asia. Turkish Airlines
is a member of the Star Alliance. Turkish Cargo, the airlines freight division,
serves over 30 destinations.

777

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

TURKISH AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

TURKISH AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

2000

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A310-300(F)

Airbus A319-100

14

Airbus A320-200

30

43

25

Airbus A321-200NEO

60

Airbus A330-200

11

Airbus A330-200F

Airbus A330-300E

15

15

Airbus A340-300

Airbus A340-300X

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-8

40

Boeing 737-800

61

24

Boeing 737-9

10

Boeing 737-900ER

10

Boeing 777-300ER

15

20

216

203

Airbus A320200NEO
Airbus A321-200

Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT
Airbus A310-200

1500

1000

500

-500

10

20

TURKISH AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

17,466 seats

IST - TLV
IST - LHR

15,642 seats
12,808 seats

IST - JFK
IST - CDG

12,612 seats

IST - ECN

11,906 seats

IST - FRA

11,838 seats
11,566 seats

IST - DUS
IST - AMS

11,154 seats
10,802 seats

IST - BRU
IST - IKA

10,337 seats
0k

Pg 77 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

22.5k

Eastern Europe
Selected Airlines

AEROFLOT PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

2. Aeroflot

30

20

10

A350

737

777

787

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15

A320

SSJ

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

AEROFLOT STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1500

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Aeroflot is the national airline of Russia with its main base at Moscow
Sheremetyevo International Airport. Formerly wholly-state owned, the airline
has been partially privatised and continues to be the dominant carrier in the
country, accounting for about 20% of the Russian passenger market. The
Russian Government continues to hold 51.17% of the airlines equity. Legal
entities and individuals own the rest. Aeroflot operates an extensive network
of domestic services within Russia, as well as international services to
Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America. Aeroflot is Russias largest
air carrier; it accounts for over 42% of international scheduled and 13.7% of
domestic traffic in Russia (with its subsidiaries, around 20%). Aeroflot is a
member of SkyTeam.
Aeroflot has been a leading voice behind consolidation in the Russian
airline industry, and has supported the Governments plan to address the
fragmentation of the airline industry that has been a central feature since
the fall of the Soviet Union. Aeroflot has taken over management control
of four Russian airlines including Rossiya, Orenair, Vladivostok Avia and SAT
Airlines.

20

20

14

1000

750

500

250

AEROFLOT FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100

Airbus A320-200

63

10

Airbus A321-200

26

Airbus A330-200

Airbus A330-300E

17

Airbus A350800XWB

Airbus A350900XWB

14

Boeing 737-700

10

Boeing 737-800

30

Boeing 737-900ER

Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing 787-8

22

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-11(F)

Ilyushin IL-96-300

Sukhoi RRJ-95B

11

12

147

124

Total:

-250

10

Flight Time (Hours)

AEROFLOT TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

11,128 seats

SVO - SIP
SVO - CDG

10,500 seats

SVO - KBP

9,932 seats

SVO - JFK

9,856 seats

SVO - PEK

9,856 seats

SVO - EVN

9,324 seats

SVO - LHR

9,116 seats

SVO - PVG

9,052 seats
8,534 seats

SVO - TLV
SVO - PRG

Pg 78 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

8,220 seats
0k

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

14k

Eastern Europe
Selected Airlines

PEGASUS AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
20

3. Pegasus Airlines

15

10

Istanbul-based Pegasus Airlines is a privately-owned low-cost airline


based at Istanbul Sabiha Gken International Airport. Using a fleet of
narrow-body Boeing 737 and A320 family aircraft, Pegasus operates an
extensive network of domestic and regional services throughout Turkey,
Europe and the Middle East.

A320

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

20

15

737

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

PEGASUS AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

PEGASUS AIRLINES TFLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

1250

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

1000

57

Airbus A321-200NEO

18

Boeing 737-400

Boeing 737-800

47

Total:

52

77

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A320-200
Airbus A320200NEO

750

500

250

-250

Flight Time (Hours)

PEGASUS AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

14,553 seats

SAW - ECN
7,938 seats

SAW - TLV

5,670 seats

SAW - STN
ESB - ECN

5,481 seats

SAW - ORY

5,292 seats

SAW - CGN

5,292 seats

SAW - AMS

5,292 seats

ECN - ADA

5,292 seats
4,140 seats

SAW - CPH
AYT - ECN

3,780 seats
0k

Pg 79 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

WESTERN EUROPE analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
European airline restructuring: survival strategies for 2014
Airline consolidation: could Europe follow North Americas path to improved margins?
Ryanair reports a rare fall in annual profit, but aims for rapid rebound and goes in search of yield
EasyJet narrows its winter losses as it attracts more business travellers
Lufthansas 1Q2014 losses narrow, but its new CEO has a busy agenda, with helpful partners scarce
Lufthansa pilot strike highlights labour issues for Europes legacy carriers. Its time to wake up
British Airways adjusts its post-Qantas JSA Asian network and partnerships; Qatar Airways to be next
British Airways and bmi: two years after integration, BA has grown some services, reduced others
IAGs 1Q losses narrow. Discipline over capacity, capital and costs provides momentum
Virgin Atlantic Airways sees more than a little red, but things were much simpler 30 years ago
Iberia: six successive years of losses. Now will 2014 finally see a return to profit?
Air France-KLM: 1Q losses narrow, but needs more cargo restructuring. Will financial targets slip?
KLM looks to grow partnerships in Asia, which are becoming larger targets than North Americas
Transavia France to add destinations, but Air France-KLMs LCC vision remains relatively limited
SAS yield decline outweighs cost cuts to give wider losses in 2Q. Market share versus profitability?
Norwegian Air Shuttles record 1Q loss: fighter pilot, lawyer, novelist needed?

Pg 80 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Western
Europe
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN WESTERN EUROPE

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Ryanair

1,757,700

easyJet

1,310,448

Lufthansa

1,032,375

SAS

690,747

Air France

686,860

British Airways

airberlin

562,324

Norwegian Air Shuttle

562,096

Vueling Airlines

471,636

10

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

402,543

618,974

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN WESTERN EUROPE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Qantas Airways

763,564

Virgin Australia

513,468

Jetstar Airways

367,404

Air New Zealand

304,055

Emirates

90,734

Tigerair Australia

84,960

Singapore Airlines

84,814

Air Niugini

49,428

United Airlines

49,104

Other

589,739
0k

200k

400k

600k

800k

WESTERN EUROPE TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Barcelona El Prat Airport

809,602

London Heathrow Airport

808,704

Frankfurt Airport

772,052

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

757,709

Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas Airport

741,534

Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport

731,579

Rome Fiumicino Airport

656,188

Munich Airport

638,030

London Gatwick Airport

606,719

10

Oslo Airport

579,691

Pg 81 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1,000k

EUROPE CONTINUES TO BE A DIVIDED


CONTINENT, with Western Europe being home to most
of the bigger airlines, while Eastern Europe enjoys the more
rapid growth in air traffic. On short/medium-haul, the LCC
business model continues to demonstrate its superiority over
FSCs, although the sharpness of the dividing lines has been
blurred by the Big Three legacy groups strategic moves in the
LCC segment.
Losing share within the continent, their long-haul
profitability is underpinned by Atlantic joint ventures with
North American partners, a model now also pursued by
Virgin Atlantic. Gulf carrier competition continues to affect
their long-haul operations to the East, although a discernable
shift in attitudes may see further new developments in this
direction in 2014.
Another, different, geographic dividing line defines the
economic outlook too, as northern Europe shows signs of
improvement, prompting hopes of increased business and
discretionary travel.
Overall RPK growth for European airlines, legacy and
LCC combined, slowed to 3.8% in 2013, from 5.3% in 2012,
according to IATA. This is forecast to rise to 4.7% in 2014,
which is below IATAs world RPK growth forecast of 6.0%
for 2014 (versus 5.2% achieved in 2013).
The increased emphasis by full service carriers on longhaul relative to short-haul meant that growth in AEA
passenger-km, up 2.7%, was again higher than growth in
AEA passenger numbers, up 1.6% in 2013. Indeed, longhaul passenger numbers were up by 3.5%, while short-haul
traffic grew by only 1%. AEA average load factor reached an
all-time high of 79.9%, up 0.7 ppts against 2012. Members
of the European Low Fares Airline Association saw
passenger numbers grow by 6.3% (adjusting for changes in
membership) and load factor gain 1.2 ppts to 83.5% in 2013
(12 months to Jun-2013).
Statistics from Eurocontrol show that traffic picked up
during the course of the year, with 1Q2013 experiencing
5% fewer flights than a year earlier, but equalling and then
exceeding the prior year in the summer and autumn. Overall,
however, 2013 saw the total number of flights in European air
space fall by 0.8% compared with 2012. By contrast with the
growth in most countries in Eastern Europe, Spain, Germany,
Italy and France saw a significant reduction in the number of
flights in 2013.
Eurocontrol forecasts an increase of 1.4% in the number of
flights in 2014, reversing two years of declines, with Eastern
Europe again outpacing the West. Growth in the number
of flights is forecast to be more muted in the major Western
countries of France (2.0%), Germany, (1.7%), UK (1.3%),
Italy (0.9%) and Spain (a decline of 0.6%).
In 2013, positive growth in passenger traffic in spite
of a fall in the number of flights was the result of higher
load factors and larger average numbers of seats per aircraft.
If these trends continue in 2014, then passenger growth
should again outpace the growth in flights and should also
be stronger than in 2013, as forecast by IATA. In addition,
growth in passenger traffic should reflect the relative strength
of East versus West as identified by Eurocontrol.

Continued red ink may start to test


the holding power of a couple of
airlines.

WESTERN EUROPE FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


6k

5k

4,350
4k

3k

2k

1,318
1k

210
0k

In service

In storage

On order

WESTERN EUROPE BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

3.3%
10.4%

10.6%

55.8%
19.8%

Narrowbody Jet
Widebody Jet
Small Commercial Turboprop

Turboprop

Regional Jet

WESTERN EUROPE CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

14.6%

14.7%

47.3%

23.3%
Unaligned

Star Alliance

oneworld

Pg 82 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

SkyTeam

In the freight markets, Europes airlines carried 1.8% more


freight tonne-kms in 2013 than in 2012, according to IATA
data, reversing the 2.9% decline of 2012 and growing slightly
faster than the world average of 1.4% in 2013.
Europe played its part in making 2013 a record year for
aircraft orders, with a number of leading airline groups
placing long-awaited orders. Ryanair placed an order for
175 new Boeing 737-800s, easyJet for 135 Airbus A320s
(of which 100 were for the neo), Lufthansa for 100 A320
family aircraft and 59 widebodies (34 Boeing 777-9Xs and
24 Airbus A350-900s). Even IAG, until recently very reticent
to add to the groups fleet, committed to 98 firm orders (30
A320 and 32 A320neos for Vueling, 18 converted Boeing
787 options and 18 A350s for BA) and a further 158 options
on Airbus narrowbodies.
Europes fastest growing FSC, Turkish Airlines, placed
orders in 2013 for up to 117 Airbus narrowbodies (including
35 options over A321neo aircraft) and up to 95 Boeing
narrowbodies (including 25 options over 737 MAX8s). It
aims to grow its fleet to 436 aircraft in 2021 from 232 at
the end of 2013, with most of the planned growth coming
from the short/medium-haul fleet. A significant order for
widebodies is expected, but not in 2014 as THY continues
to focus primarily on the more than 40% of worldwide
international traffic that is within narrowbody range of its
Istanbul hub.
The LCCs faster growth relative to the FSCs looks set to
continue in 2014. Ryanair will take delivery of the first of its
175 new aircraft in Sep-2014 and plans seat growth of about
3% this year, slightly slower than the 5% planned by easyJet.
While this planned growth by the big two European LCCs
is in a similar range to that envisioned by some of the leading
FSCs, the likes of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Vueling, Wizz Air
and Pegasus are seeking double digit growth. Turkish Airlines
remains the notable exception to the generalisation that FSC
growth is relatively slow, as it continues to pursue LCC-like
double digit capacity growth.
Ryanair will have additional reasons to regard 2014 as an
important year, during which it will take its first delivery
under the new Boeing order, and decide whether or not to
press the button on an anticipated 737MAX order. For years
the icon for believers in the purist LCC model, Ryanair
will be a somewhat changed beast by the end of the year.
Allocated seating; a new user-friendly website; a less penal
approach to passengers who need to check in bags or reprint
their boarding pass at the airport; new distribution channels
including a dedicated mobile app and GDS partners; and a
greater presence in primary airports all of these should be
in place in the coming months.
For Norwegian, 2014 will be the first full calendar year of
long-haul operations and a test of whether its long-haul lowcost model can become firmly established, particularly on the
North Atlantic as it launches new US routes from London
Gatwick this summer. It will have 12 out of its 14 long-haul
routes operating to the US.
Norwegians long-haul adventure is just one example
of how the business models of Europes LCCs and FSCs
are continuing to move towards common ground in 2014.
Vueling has long been known for additional product features
and easyJets push to attract business passengers is now three
or four years old.
Moreover, the Big Three legacy flag carrier groups will
further evolve their LCC subsidiaries. Air France-KLMs
Transavia France subsidiary is to add new routes and aircraft;

WESTERN EUROPE PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
250

200

150

100

50

72

28

27

737

20

26

20

25

747

20

24

777

20

23

20

22

20

21

A380

20

20

20

19

A350

20

18

20

17

A330
CSERIES

20

16

20

15

A320
CRJ

20

20

20

14

787

E175

WESTERN EUROPE MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

29.4%

30.7%

3.1%
3.1%
4.0%
4.0%
4.5%
A320

737

A330

21.3%
777

747

DHC8

A340

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN WESTERN


EUROPE: 2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
50

40

37.1%
32.9%

38.3% 38.5% 37.8%38.3%

33.8%

29.6%

30
24.6%
21.6%
19.1%

20
15.0%
9.1%

10
5.4%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 83 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

Lufthansas Germanwings will add Duesseldorf to the list


of German airports converted to its brand from the parent
company in point to point non-hub flying; and IAG will
experience its first full year of owning Vueling, which will
open bases at Rome Fiumicino, Palermo and Brussels on a
stand-alone basis.
Russias national carrier, Aeroflot, is to join the Big
Three in establishing a LCC subsidiary with the launch
of Dobrolet. Although there are currently no domestic
LCCs in Russia, and LCCs account for only 4% of seats
on international routes to/from the country, Russia looks
set to be a growth market for LCCs, with flydubai, easyJet
and Wizz Air already operating there and Ryanair having
obtained rights.
Although Europes airlines are generally on an improving
trend in terms of financial results, this hides wide disparities
in margins and balance sheet strength. Almost every FSC
in the region is in the middle of an on-going restructuring
programme to reduce their cost base. In addition, some are
using their geographical location to pursue a niche network
strategy, for example Finnair to Asia, TAP Portugal and Air
Europa to Latin America and Icelandair to North America.
The Lufthansa Group, Air France-KLM and IAGs Iberia
are notable examples of those that are battling to secure a
more stable platform for future profitability.
For airlines such as SAS, Alitalia, LOT Polish Airlines,
Virgin Atlantic and flybe, the restructuring battle is still (to a
greater or lesser degree) one of survival; profit improvement
measures may not be enough. SAS has made progress
with its cost reduction, but clearly feels that an additional
liquidity cushion is necessary, suggesting that its restructuring
programme may not deliver fully on its targets.
Virgin Atlantics future looks more secure now that it is
developing a joint venture on the Atlantic with its 49% owner
Delta. However, to date, Delta has not provided fresh funds
and its restructuring programme remains very important to
restoring profits and shoring up its balance sheet.
Gulf-based Etihad has begun to play an increasingly
important role in Europe now. Alitalia now looks set to
receive an investment from Etihad, which has said that it is in
the final stages of due diligence.
Other European carriers airberlin, Darwin Airline
(now Etihad Regional) and Air Serbia have already
received investment from Etihad, whose Equity Alliance,
supplemented by bilateral codeshares, continues to extend the
Abu Dhabi carriers reach into Europe and beyond. (Etihad
also has a stake in Aer Lingus, but the Irish carrier did not
receive new funds, nor was it in financial distress.)
2013 saw significant shifts in the attitudes of the major
European legacy carriers towards their competitors from the
Gulf, as well as some changes in the strategic stance of the
Gulf carriers towards global partnerships. Qatar Airways
joined oneworld (sponsored by British Airways) and Air
France-KLM started to codeshare with Etihad.
Lufthansa and Emirates, who entered into a JV
agreement with Qantas, both hinted that they may be
open to some form of partnership with one another in the
future. Lufthansa remains the only one of the Big Three in
Europe not to have embraced one of the Gulf Three carriers;
meanwhile pressure to address its strategic options towards
the Middle East and Asia Pacific is growing following the
end of Lufthansas codeshare with Star Alliance partner
Turkish Airlines.
The AEAs last estimate for its members aggregate

Europe remains the least profitable


of the worlds major aviation
regions.

Almost every FSC in the region is in the middle of an ongoing restructuring programme to reduce their cost base.

Pg 84 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

EBIT figure was close to break-even in 2013. For Europe


as a whole, IATA predicts a net margin of 1.3% for 2014,
compared with 0.2% in 2013. This includes the LCCs, who
are not members of AEA, and who look set to outpace the
legacy carriers on both traffic growth and profits.
Nevertheless, even with the contribution of the LCCs to
regional profitability, Europe remains the least profitable of
the worlds major aviation regions (among all the regions,
only Africa has lower margins than Europe).
For many of Europes legacy carriers, 2014 could be the
year of reckoning for their restructuring programmes, either
providing the much needed platform for future financial
health, or leaving little alternative to closure or seeking
acquisition.

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

RYANAIR PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
80

1. Ryanair

60

40

20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Ryanair is Europes largest airline, the largest low-cost carrier, and one of
the worlds largest airlines as measured by international passengers carried.
Ryanair has its largest base at London Stansted Airport, and second-largest
base at Dublin Airport. Ryanair currently operates a network covering
over 40 bases and 1,100 routes (with over 1,300 daily departures) across 26
countries, connecting some 155 destinations. Ryanair operates a fleet of over
250 B737-800 aircraft, with a large order backlog and employs more than
8,000 people.

737

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

RYANAIR STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


4000

RYANAIR FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

3500

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

3000

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Boeing 737-800

297

180

Total:

297

180

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
-500

Flight Time (Hours)

RYANAIR TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

20,790 seats

STN - DUB
DUB - LGW

11,718 seats
11,340 seats

DUB - MAN
STN - CIA

10,962 seats

DUB - BHX

10,584 seats

STN - BCN

10,584 seats

STN - MAD

10,584 seats

STN - BGY

10,584 seats
9,450 seats

DUB - EDI
DUB - LPL

9,072 seats
0k

Pg 85 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

EASYJET PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
30

25

2. easyJet

20

15

10

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Based at London Luton Airport, with its busiest base at London Gatwick
Airport, easyJet was founded by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and is listed on the
London Stock Exchange. The carrier has experienced rapid growth since its
establishment in 1995, having expanded due to a combination of acquisitions
and base openings triggered by consumer demand for low-cost air travel.
Using a fleet of Airbus and Boeing narrow-body aircraft, easyJet operates an
extensive network throughout Europe as well as to northern Africa and Israel
supported by over 15 hubs spread throughout Europe.

A320

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

EASYJET STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


4k

EASYJET FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100

140

Airbus A320-200

60

46

100

200

146

Airbus A320200NEO
Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

3k

2k

1k

0k

-1k

Flight Time (Hours)

EASYJET TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

15,528 seats

MXP - CDG

14,640 seats

GVA - LGW

14,232 seats

AMS - LGW
BCN - LGW

13,680 seats
11,616 seats

FCO - ORY
AGP - LGW

11,376 seats

MXP - LGW

11,352 seats

NCE - LGW

11,280 seats
10,128 seats

MAD - LGW
FCO - LGW

10,032 seats
0k

Pg 86 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

LUFTHANSA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

3. Lufthansa

30

20

10

A320

A350

A380

747

25
20

24
20

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

With its headquarters in Cologne and primary hubs at Frankfurt and


Munich airports and secondary hubs in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart
and Milan, Lufthansa is one of the largest airlines in Europe. Operating a
large fleet of narrow and wide-body Airbus, Boeing and Embraer aircraft,
Lufthansa operates an extensive network of regional services within
Germany and Europe as well as Asia, the Middle East, North America, South
America and Africa. A publicly listed company, Lufthansa is a founding
member of Star Alliance.

777

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

LUFTHANSA STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


6k

LUFTHANSA FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

5k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT

4k

Airbus A319-100

32

Airbus A320-200

60

33

64

Airbus A321-100

20

Airbus A321-200

42

Airbus A321-200NEO

40

Airbus A330-300E

Airbus A330-300X

10

Airbus A340-300

Airbus A340-300X

18

Airbus A340-600

12

Airbus A340-600(HGW)

12

Airbus A350900XWB

25

Airbus A380-800

11

FRA - VIE

Boeing 737-300

MUC - LHR

Boeing 737-500

FRA - FCO

Boeing 747-400

18

BRU - FRA

FRA - PRG

Boeing 747-8

13

FRA - AMS

Boeing 777-9X

20

FRA - VCE

278

12

193

Airbus A320200NEO

Boeing 747-400M

Total:

3k

2k

1k

0k

-1k

10

LUFTHANSA TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

27,086 seats

FRA - LHR
FRA - CDG

Pg 87 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

22,720 seats
21,652 seats

FRA - BCN

19,600 seats
18,108 seats
16,672 seats
15,182 seats
14,648 seats
13,748 seats
13,684 seats
0k

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

35k

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

BRITISH AIRWAYS PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
12

4. British Airways

10

777

22
20

20

21
20

A380

20

A350

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

British Airways (BA) is the national carrier of the United Kingdom, a


subsidiary of publicly-listed International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG),
and is based at London Heathrow Airport with a secondary base at London
Gatwick Airport. Using a fleet of wide and narrow-bodied Airbus and Boeing
aircraft, BAs extensive network, including that of franchise partners Sun
Air (Turkey) and Comair (South Africa), includes services to Europe, North
America, Latin America, Canada, Africa, Asia and Australia. BA is a founding
member of the oneworld alliance.

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

BRITISH AIRWAYS STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

BRITISH AIRWAYS FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

2000

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Airbus A319-100

44

Airbus A320-200

53

Airbus A321-200

18

Airbus A3501000XWB

18

Airbus A380-800

Boeing 737-400

13

Boeing 747-400

47

Boeing 767-300ER

18

Boeing 777-200

Boeing 777-200ER

43

Boeing 777-300ER

10

Boeing 787-10

12

Boeing 787-8

Boeing 787-9

22

260

12

65

Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT
Airbus A318-100

1500

1000

500

-500

15

BRITISH AIRWAYS TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

37,514 seats

LHR - JFK
LHR - MAD

22,016 seats
17,208 seats

LHR - FCO
LHR - AMS

16,780 seats
16,232 seats

LHR - BOS
LHR - BCN

15,452 seats

LHR - GVA

14,840 seats

LHR - TXL

14,556 seats
14,020 seats

LHR - NCE
LHR - CDG

13,720 seats
0k

Pg 88 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

10

Flight Time (Hours)

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

35k

40k

45k

50k

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

AIR FRANCE PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
20

5. Air France

15

10

A320

A350

A380

777

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

A subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and based in Paris, Air France is
the national airline of France. The airline merged with Dutch flag carrier KLM
in 2004, forming one of the worlds largest airline groups. The airline is based
at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with smaller hubs at Paris-Orly, Lyon and
Nice airport. Air France operates an extensive global network, serving almost
200 destinations across North America, South America, Asia and Africa. Air
France is a founding member of SkyTeam.

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

AIR FRANCE STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


4k

AIR FRANCE FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

3k

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A300B4-200

Airbus A318-100

18

Airbus A319-100

39

Airbus A319-100LR

Airbus A320-200

44

Airbus A321-100

Airbus A321-200

20

Airbus A330-200

15

Airbus A340-300

Airbus A340-300X

10

Airbus A350900XWB

25

Airbus A380-800

Boeing 747-400

CDG - JFK

Boeing 747-400ERF

CDG - LHR

Boeing 747-400M

CDG - BCN

Boeing 777-200ER

25

CDG - GVA

Boeing 777-300ER

37

CDG - FCO

Boeing 777F

CDG - MAD

Boeing 787-9

37

CDG - AMS

238

73

CDG - TXL

Total:

2k

1k

0k

-1k

15

AIR FRANCE TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

21,764 seats
18,938 seats
17,338 seats
16,612 seats
15,766 seats
15,440 seats
13,592 seats
13,264 seats
12,002 seats

CDG - LIN
CDG - MUC

11,866 seats
0k

Pg 89 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

10

Flight Time (Hours)

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

30k

Western Europe
Selected Airlines

KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT


ON ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
2

6. KLM Royal Dutch


Airlines

16
20

15
20

20

14

777

Based in Amsterdam, KLM is the national airline of the Netherlands. Part of


the Air France-KLM Group, KLM operates an extensive network which includes
services within Europe and to Asia, Africa, North America, Central and South
America and the Middle East. KLM is a founding member of the SkyTeam
alliance.

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

2000

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

12

Airbus A330-300

Boeing 737-700

18

Boeing 737-800

25

Boeing 737-900

Boeing 747-400

Boeing 747-400ERF

Boeing 747-400M

17

Boeing 777-200ER

15

Boeing 777-300ER

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-11

117

Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

AIRCRAFT
Airbus A330-200

1500

1000

500

-500

10

KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

19,086 seats

AMS - LHR
AMS - CDG

13,780 seats
13,232 seats

AMS - JFK
AMS - BCN

12,776 seats

AMS - TXL

12,024 seats

AMS - MAN

11,964 seats

AMS - MAD

11,900 seats

AMS - FCO

11,900 seats

AMS - CPH

11,796 seats

AMS - ARN

11,656 seats
0k

Pg 90 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

22.5k

25k

NORTH AMERICA analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
US airlines mostly post encouraging 1Q2014 results; but its a long and winding road to stability
Dallas/Fort Worth airport secures Shanghai and Hong Kong services, seeks Beijing and maybe Istanbul
North American hybrid airlines offer a range of possibilities as consolidation takes hold: Part 2
Delta Air Lines 2014 network strategy entails bypassing Tokyo and leveraging partnerships
Allegiant Airs strong fundamentals remain intact even as costs continue to rise; US ULCCs Part 1
Delta Air Lines continues to work towards achieving investment-grade with strong 1Q2014 results
Delta Air Lines loss at Dallas Love Field is Seattles gain, but Alaska Air still feels more pain
JetBlue Airways hybrid model remains enigmatic as cost creep outpaces revenue production
Southwest Airlines continues work to drive network strength in the US market
Southwest Airlines paradox - strong fundamentals confronted by a challenged business model
Spirit Airlines joins the dots in 2014, with also some new growth in Kansas City; US ULCCs Part 3
United Airlines: time to deliver as sceptics look for improved fortunes in 2Q2014
Air Canada eyes healthy demand in the summer season after racking up losses in 1Q2014
WestJet continues attempts to recoup its revenue slide as new international service debuts
Porter Airlines plans remain in limbo as its competitors work to sustain their long-term viability
Pg 91 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

North
America
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN NORTH AMERICA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Delta Air Lines

3,549,840

Southwest Airlines

3,283,031

United Airlines

2,674,725

American Airlines

2,145,360

US Airways

2,005,329

Air Canada

737,596

Alaska Airlines

650,044

JetBlue Airways

619,280

WestJet

449,032

10

Spirit Airlines

278,993

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN NORTH AMERICA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Delta Air Lines

3,928,824

United Airlines

3,357,796

Southwest Airlines

3,292,146

American Airlines

2,692,052

US Airways

2,179,842

Air Canada
JetBlue Airways
Alaska Airlines
WestJet

910,820
735,220
685,083
474,587

Other
0M

3,965,852
1M

2M

3M

4M

5M

NORTH AMERICA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Chicago O'Hare International Airport

1,369,723

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

1,280,940

Los Angeles International Airport

1,211,229

Denver International Airport

1,127,587

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

974,009

Las Vegas McCarran International Airport

941,795

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

923,904

San Francisco International Airport

879,182

10

Minneapolis St Paul International Airport

747,291

Pg 92 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1,955,191

DESPITE RECENT STRONG RETURNS, SIGNS OF


COST AND CAPACITY CREEP ARE POLLUTING THE
NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY.
Most North American airlines entered 2014 on relatively
sound footing, buoyed by solid FY2013 profits, a stabilising
US economy and lower fuel prices, albeit still in the USD90
to USD100 per barrel range. Carriers executing the spectrum
of business models full service, hybrid and ultra lowcost are busy building out their strategies in the hopes
that a foundation is laid for the industry to thrive, rather
than merely survive. The only clouds on the horizon are
proposed increases in capacity and upward cost pressures.
With nearly three years of profitability on record, discussions
among management teams at North American carriers are
gravitating toward shareholder returns, something largely
unheard of during the previous decade. In 2013, Delta
returned USD350 million in cash to shareholders, and targets
total returns of USD700 million by May-2014. Alaska Air
Group issued its first dividend in 21 years during 2013
while Canadian hybrid carrier WestJet increased its 1Q2014
quarterly shareholder dividend by 20%.
Despite the foundations North American airlines have laid
in order to sustain profitability, capacity and costs have been
growing at the majority of carriers during 2014.
But those airlines are taking great care to emphasise the
capacity uptick is largely driven by migration to larger-gauge
jets rather than a return to the days of airlines dumping
irrational supply into the market place. At the moment
revenue momentum seems strong enough to offset the unit
cost pressure that both low-cost and full service carriers face
this year, but if conditions soften, airlines may have to temper
capacity growth to protect their profits.
Even as weakness in the emerging markets created some
jitters in early 2014, the three large US network carriers
were bullish regarding demand, particularly in the domestic
market. Delta, United and American (including results for
US Airways) increased domestic yields during 4Q2013 by
9%, 6% and 4%, respectively. Each carrier seemed encouraged
by positive demand trends heading into 2014, and for the
moment have no plans to revise their capacity guidance for
the full year.
Of the three major US carriers, the new American has
the largest planned capacity increase for 2014 of 3.5%.
The carrier estimates 2.6ppt of the planned increase results
from the operation of higher density aircraft that American
believes is P&L positive given the incremental revenue from
higher density aircraft goes straight to its bottom line. United
plans it first consolidated capacity increase in three years
during 2014 of 1% to 2%. Similar to American, the carrier
states the rise is driven by aircraft upgauging as it takes
delivery of higher density narrowbodies and regional jets,
and the addition of slimeline seats to existing aircraft. Delta
expects flat to 2% capacity growth during 2013 again driven
by a years-long scheme to replace 50 seat jets with higherdensity aircraft.
In 2014, Delta aims to continue sharpening its competitive
edge against its full service peers. The airlines major
initiatives include turning the corner to profitability in New

The threat of ULCC entry remains


as yields increase and the majors
reduce hub coverage.

NORTH AMERICA FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

12k

10k

8,401
8k

6k

4k

2,272
2k

547
0k

In service

In storage

On order

NORTH AMERICA FLEET BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

7.1%
13.3%

43.7%
13.6%

22.3%
Narrowbody Jet
Turboprop

Regional Jet

Widebody Jet

Small Commercial Turboprop

NORTH AMERICA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

19.6%
34.2%

22.0%

24.2%
Unaligned

oneworld

Star Alliance

Pg 93 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

SkyTeam

York at its hubs in JFK and LaGuardia, bolstering its own


branded feed at its Asian gateway in Seattle and reversing
losses at the Trainer oil refinery it purchased in 2012. High
hopes for Trainer were steadily dampened throughout the
course of 2013 as the business bled USD116 million for the
full year.
Obviously Americans largest task in 2014 will be the
integration with US Airways; that includes network
optimisation, crafting a blueprint for migration of technology
platforms and navigating the often thorny task of combining
labour groups. Plans are already under way to rebank the
Miami hub during late 2014 followed by similar changes in
Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago OHare. These are not small
challenges and with so much in flux at American during
2014, any predictions of the carriers performance are best
shelved until 2015 at the earliest. However, it does appear
that American aims to study lessons learned from previous
mergers in order to avoid pitfalls experienced by other
carriers. The proof always lies in execution, and American in
2014 faces considerable scrutiny as the integration progresses.
Uniteds shareholders are welcoming its declaration that
2013 was the year it left integration challenges behind.
But those investors are also justified in harbouring some
scepticism given the carrier still needs to deliver on USD1.2
billion merger synergies it promised four years ago when it
tabled plans to merge with Continental. There are signs of
positive momentum as United achieved its stated return on
invested capital (ROIC) goal of 10% during 2013.
But challenges in 2014 include a unit cost creep of 1% to
2% and delivering a unit revenue performance that mirrors its
peers. United has improved its passenger unit revenue metrics
relative to its peers after running at a deficit for most of 2012
and some of 2013. American, Delta and United all recorded
FY2013 passenger unit revenue growth of roughly 3%,
which bodes well for Uniteds recent revamp of its revenue
management system.
The one-time US low-cost pioneer Southwest Airlines
expects a 2% to 3% jump in unit costs excluding fuel during
FY2014, which is in line with estimates provided by major
airlines Delta and United. Southwest concludes much of the
cost pressure it faces during 2014 stems from integration with
AirTran, which it expects to complete this year. Notably, the
carriers estimates do not include any projections from new
labour contracts. Southwest is in the midst of negotiations
with all its organised labour groups, and cracks are emerging
in its historical favourable relations, illustrated by the carriers
suspicions of a work slow-down in Jan-2014 by some
employees at Chicago Midway.
On a broader scale Southwest remains outside of any of
the three emerging business models, something the carrier
believes helps to preserve its renegade image. But with a
narrower cost gap versus its legacy peers and fewer amenities
than hybrid carriers, Southwest finds itself at a crossroads
in terms of its evolution. No one is questioning its still-loyal
following, but with the US reaching full-scale maturity,
Southwest needs a sure-fire strategy to sustain its leading
position in the market.
The threat of ULCC entry remains as yields increase
and the majors reduce hub coverage. As consolidation has
reduced competition, established ultra low-cost carrier Spirit
Airlines refocussed its attention back into the domestic
market and a reformulated Frontier Airlines was quick to step
into the hole being left at Cleveland as United vacates its hub
there.

NORTH AMERICA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


350

300

250

200

150

100

50

20
14
20
15
20
16
20
17
20
18
20
19
20
20
20
21
20
22
20
23
20
24
20
25
20
26
20
27
20
28
20
29
20
30
20
31
20
32

767
E190

737
E175

777
MRJ

787

A320

A330

A350

DHC8

CRJ

NORTH AMERICA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

18.7%
35.2%

11.8%

4.9%

11.4%

5.0%
737

CRJ

A320

6.7%

6.2%
757

EMB145

CARAVAN

MD-80

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN NORTH


AMERICA: 2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
40

30
24.0%

24.9%

26.0%

27.1%

28.5% 28.0% 28.7%

29.7% 30.1% 30.1%30.3%

21.9%
20

19.8%
17.6%

10

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 94 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

Spirit Airlines too expects some cost pressure in 2014


driven by new US pilot duty and rest time regulations and
its average 22% growth rate during the next couple of years.
However, its projected 4Q2013 unit costs excluding fuel and
special items were in the USD5.98 cent to USD6.03 cent
range, well below Southwest and all other US carriers.
Spirit also expected 3% unit revenue growth year-on-year
in the quarter, which shows positive demand among its
targeted passenger base of customers that normally can not
afford air travel except for Spirits low fares.
The three US hybrid carriers Alaska, Hawaiian and
JetBlue also enjoyed profitability during 2013. All of
those airlines continued their trend of higher than average
capacity growth during 2013, with Alaska and JetBlue each
recording an approximate 7% year-on-year increase in supply.
Hawaiians roughly 14% jump in capacity was mainly driven
by its long-haul growth largely centered in Asia.
Alaska and JetBlues higher than average capacity growth
did not pressure each carriers profits in 2013. Alaskas net
income jumped 61% to USD508 million while JetBlue
increased 31% to USD168 million. Both carriers also expect
unit costs to rise in FY2014 a 1% rise at Alaska and a 3%
to 5% increase at JetBlue. Alaskas increase appears driven
by one-time items such as IT and marketing spend, while a
rise in pilot wages accounts for a large portion of JetBlues
increase.
JetBlue believes it can achieve a 7% return goal in 2014
after falling short of ROIC targets in 2012 and 2013. While
Alaskas robust balance sheet allows the carrier to discuss
concrete shareholder returns, JetBlue is in the midst of paring
down its debt. JetBlue is a much younger company than
Alaska, but as investors get a whiff of sustained profitability,
their appetite for at least a blueprint of shareholder return is
growing.
The major cloud hanging over Alaska during 2014 is its
diminishing relationship with Delta at Alaskas Seattle hub.
By Sep-2014 Delta will compete with Alaska head-on in
numerous domestic markets from Seattle to feed its long-haul
trans-Pacific flights, and is opting to operate those services
with its own metal rather than tap a long-standing codeshare
with Alaska. Executives at Alaska believe the carrier can
withstand the added competitive pressure from Delta; but
backfilling the annual USD200 million-plus revenue the
Delta codeshare fetches for Alaska is a daunting task for the
carrier.
Hawaiians stated goals for 2014 are maturing the
approximately 10 long-haul markets it has introduced since
2010. Most are to date delivering a negative burden. By
4Q2014 Hawaiian estimates new markets should account for
only 8% of its international capacity deployment, compared
with 30% during 4Q2012. The carrier also expects to drop its
capacity growth to 5% in 2014 versus a 14% hike in supply
during 2013. In the medium term Hawaiian declared it will
generate positive free cash flow during 2016 after taking
delivery of all 22 A330 widebodies it has on order.
Canadas two major airlines, Air Canada and WestJet, also
enter 2014 on reasonably sound footing, which is key as each
carriers new business enterprise Air Canadas long-haul
low-cost carrier Air Canada rouge and WestJets regional
subsidiary Encore log a full year of operations in 2014.
Since Encores launch in mid-2013, WestJet has
announced the new airline has performed better than
expectations, and estimates roughly 50% to 60% of Encores
passengers connect to its mainline services, which should

.5%

THE LARGEST CAPACITY INCREASE FOR 2014,


PLANNED BY THE NEW AMERICAN

Pg 95 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

ultimately be a positive force for the carriers revenue growth.


WestJet is also warning of cost pressure in 2014, having
revised its full year unit cost guidance upwards to a 1.5% to
2.5% rise versus previous estimates of flat to 1% growth.
Air Canada plans a hefty 9% to 11% rise in its capacity
during 2014, with international growth representing the
bulk of its expanding supply. The carrier is adding six Boeing
787-8s to its mainline operations in 2014, while rouge should
end the year with six 767s. Air Canada is also operating
five higher-density, 458-seat Boeing 777-300ERs this year
to markets featuring a higher level of economy passengers,
including Hong Kong and Paris.
The establishment of rouge and Air Canadas operation
of higher density aircraft are factors cited in the airlines
ambitious goals of slashing its unit costs by 15% in the
medium term.
After a tumultuous previous couple of years, Air Canada
entered 2014 with a strengthening balance sheet and falling
debt levels, which improves its ability to compete with
WestJet, who is feeling out the potential for trans-Atlantic
service with new seasonal narrowbody service from Toronto
to Dublin via St Johns beginning in Jun-2014. If WestJet
turns a favourable performance in its foray into true longhaul markets, rouge faces a formidable competitor on its
lower-yielding trans-Atlantic services.
Mastery was the buzzword of choice for executives at
Hawaiian Airlines as they outlined the carriers goals for
2014. Perhaps that sentiment is appropriate for the North
American market as a whole this year as each of the regions
carriers needs to accomplish pivotal tasks to prove their
respective business models of choice have staying power
throughout the unpredictable rises and falls of a business
cycle.
Airlines operating in North America deserve some credit
for their accomplishments during the last few years to create
a rational airline industry. But it is still too early to declare a
complete and successful turnaround in the North American
market.
For the short term, the main challenge for airlines will be
to master sustainability amid rising costs and a still fragile
demand recovery.

North America
Selected Airlines

DELTA AIR LINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
50

40

1. Delta Air Lines

30

20

10

A320

A330

32

31

20

30

20

29

20

28

20

27

787

20

26

737

20

25

20

24

20

23

20

22

20

21

20

20

20

19

20

18

20

17

20

16

20

15

20

20

14

0
20

Based in Atlanta, Delta Air Lines


merged with Northwest Airlines in Oct2008 to form one of the largest airlines in the world. Operating an extensive
fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, Deltas network includes extensive
domestic services within the United States as well as international services
to Central and South America, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Africa and
Europe. The airlines main hub is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport, which ranks among the worlds busiest - largely due to Deltas
dominant presence at the facility. Delta also has hubs in New York, Detroit,
Minneapolis, Memphis and Salt Lake City in the USA and international hubs at
Amsterdam, Tokyo and Paris. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam.

CRJ

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

DELTA AIR LINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

DELTA AIR LINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

15k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE


AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

12.5k

ON ORDER

57

Airbus A320-200

69

Airbus A321-200

30

Airbus A330-200

11

Airbus A330-300

10

Airbus A330-300E

21

Boeing 717-200

27

Boeing 737-700

10

Boeing 737-800

73

Boeing 737-900ER

20

80

Boeing 747-400

16

Boeing 757-200

96

31

Boeing 757-200(ETOPS)

36

Boeing 757-300

16

Boeing 767-300

15

Boeing 767-300ER

58

Boeing 767-400ER

21

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 777-200LR

10

Boeing 787-8

18

SJU - JFK

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51

31

ATL - SJU

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-82

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-83

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-87

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-88

117

Boeing/McDonnell Douglas MD-90-30

65

STI - JFK

ATL - AMS

Bombardier CL-600-2B19(CRJ100LR)
Bombardier CL-600-2B19(CRJ200ER)

Bombardier CL-600-2B19(CRJ200LR)

Bombardier CL-600-2D24(CRJ900ERNG)

17

754

86

155

Total:

Pg 96 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A319-100

10k

7.5k

5k

2.5k

0k

-2.5k

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

DELTA AIR LINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

15,312 seats

AMS - DTW
ATL - CUN

12,666 seats
12,030 seats

MSP - AMS

11,183 seats
11,013 seats

LHR - JFK

9,744 seats

ATL - MEX

9,688 seats

ATL - LHR

9,604 seats
8,320 seats
7,997 seats
0k

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

North America
Selected Airlines

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
50

2. Southwest
Airlines

40

30

20

10

27

26

20

25

20

20

23

24
20

22

20

21

20

20

20

19

20

17

18

20

20

20

16

15

20

20

20

14

737

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Boeing 737-300

122

11

Boeing 737-500

15

Boeing 737-7

30

398

56

Boeing 737-700
Boeing
737-700(ETOPS)

Boeing 737-8

170

Boeing 737-800

56

47

Total:

591

18

303

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


10k

8k

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Southwest Airlines is an American low-cost carrier headquartered in


Dallas, Texas. The archetype low-cost airline that inspired the low-cost
movement around the world, Southwest is ranked amongst the largest
airlines in the world as measured by passengers carried. Southwest is one
of the worlds most consistently profitable airlines, adhering closely to its
low-cost tradition but differentiating itself through well-regarded customer
service and free baggage checks. Southwest remains one of the most
influential airlines in the world, with an enormous fleet of Boeing 737NG
aircraft which operate over 3500 services each day to over 70 destinations
across the United States.

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

6k

4k

2k

0k

-2k

Flight Time (Hours)

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

6,454 seats

SJU - MCO

4,452 seats

SJU - BWI

4,004 seats

SJU - FLL

2,386 seats

SJU - TPA

2,288 seats

SJU - ATL

0k

Pg 97 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

8k

North America
Selected Airlines

UNITED AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
60

50

3. United Airlines

40

30

20

10

A320

A350

737

25
20

24
20

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

14

0
20

Based at Chicago OHare, with secondary hubs in Denver, Houston,


Newark, Cleveland, LAX, San Francisco and Washington Dulles, United Airlines
is one of the worlds largest airlines. Using a large fleet of narrow and
wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, United Airlines operates an extensive
domestic and regional network of services within North America as well as
international services to Central America, South America, Asia, Australia,
Europe and Africa. United Airlines is a founding member of the Star Alliance
and announced a merger with Continental Airlines in May-2010.

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

UNITED AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

UNITED AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014

12.5k

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

10k

55

10

Airbus A320-200

97

Airbus A350-1000XWB

35

Boeing 737-500

Boeing 737-700

34

Boeing 737-800

99

Boeing
737-800(ETOPS)

31

Boeing 737-9

100

Boeing 737-700(ETOPS)

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A319-100

7.5k

5k

2.5k

0k

Boeing 737-900

12

Boeing 737-900ER

89

50

Boeing 747-400

24

Boeing 757-200

54

Boeing
757-200(ETOPS)

54

Boeing 757-300

11

Boeing
757-300(ETOPS)

10

Boeing 767-200ER

Boeing 767-300ER

35

Boeing 767-400ER

-2.5k

10

UNITED AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

15,518 seats

IAH - CUN
EWR - LHR

14,878 seats
11,572 seats

IAH - MEX
SFO - NRT

10,472 seats

SFO - FRA

10,472 seats

IAD - LHR

16

GUM - NRT

Boeing
777-200(ETOPS)

19

ORD - FRA

9,044 seats

Boeing 777-200ER

55

IAH - LHR

8,923 seats

Boeing 787-10

20

Boeing 787-8

10

11

Boeing 787-9

24

707

10

258

Total:

Pg 98 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

15

Flight Time (Hours)

10,052 seats
9,856 seats

ORD - LHR

8,736 seats
0k

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

20k

North America
Selected Airlines

AMERICAN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON


ORDER*
SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
80

4. American Airlines

60

40

20

ON ORDER

17

Airbus A321-200

15

67

Airbus A321-200NEO

100

Boeing 737-8

100

Boeing 737-800

233

73

Boeing 757-200

57

23

Boeing
757-200(ETOPS)

29

Boeing 767-200ER

10

Boeing 767-300ER

58

Boeing 777-200ER

47

Boeing 777-300ER

12

Boeing 787-8

12

Boeing 787-9

30

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-82

89

11

Boeing/McDonnell
Douglas MD-83

71

25
20

24

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


7k

Embraer E175STD

60

631

50

457

5k

4k

3k

2k

1k

0k

-1k

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

AMERICAN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

14,336 seats

MIA - SJU
LHR - ORD

13,643 seats
13,468 seats

MIA - GRU
JFK - LHR

13,020 seats
12,786 seats

MIA - CUN
DFW - CUN

11,798 seats
11,592 seats

DFW - LHR
DFW - MEX

9,800 seats
9,366 seats

MIA - CCS
MIA - SDQ

9,099 seats
0k

Pg 99 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

20

23
20

22
20

20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

21

787

6k

Airbus A319-100

Total:

777

AMERICAN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

No. of Weekly Frequencies

IN STORAGE

737

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

15

A320

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

14

0
20

A subsidiary of AMR Corporation, American Airlines (AA) is based at


Dallas Fort Worth with hubs in Chicago, Miami and New York. AAs extensive
network includes domestic and regional services within North America and
international services to Europe, Asia, Central America and South America.
AA is a founding member of the oneworld alliance. The carrier filed for
bankruptcy protection on 29-Nov-2011. As part of its restructuring plan, the
carrier unveiled a new livery and branding in Jan-2013.
AMR Corporation and US Airways Group announced the completion of their
merger to officially form American Airlines Group on 09-Dec-2013 while AMR
emerged from restructuring with full recovery to American creditors.

2.5k

5k

7.5k

10k

12.5k

15k

17.5k

North America
Selected Airlines

JETBLUE PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

5. jetBlue

30

20

10

22

21

20

E190

20

A320

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15
20

jetBlue is a low-cost carrier based at New York JFK International Airport,


with secondary bases at Boston Logan, Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood, Orlando
International, Washington Dulles and Long Beach airports. Using a fleet of
Airbus A320 and Embraer E-190 aircraft, jetBlue has an extensive network
that serves destinations in the United States, the Caribbean, and Central and
South America.

20

14

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

JETBLUE STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1750

JETBLUE FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

1500

AIRCRAFT

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

130

Airbus A320-200NEO

30

Airbus A321-200

47

Airbus A321-200NEO

30

Embraer ERJ190-100IGW(AR)

60

23

Total:

196

133

1250

No. of Weekly Frequencies

Airbus A320-200

IN SERVICE

1000

750

500

250

-250

Flight Time (Hours)

JETBLUE TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
JFK - SDQ

10,760 seats

JFK - STI

10,740 seats
10,500 seats

SJU - JFK
SJU - MCO

9,100 seats
7,000 seats

SJU - FLL
SJU - SDQ

6,300 seats

SJU - TPA

5,700 seats

SJU - BOS

5,700 seats
5,600 seats

NAS - FLL
JFK - PUJ

4,760 seats
0k

Pg 100 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

14k

LATIN AMERICA analysis reports:


Source: CAPA Centre for Aviation
Gol presses forward with international expansion as it records losses in 1Q2014
Profitability eludes Brazils Gol for a third consecutive year and a turnaround still looks distant
Avianca Brazil slows domestic growth. Perhaps time to expand into the international market
LATAM Airlines Groups merger pains are aggravated by currency woes across multiple markets
LAN Airlines cuts Chile domestic capacity, as World Cup traffic slump adds another hurdle for LATAM
Aviancas strength in growth markets helps lift its 2013 financial performance

Pg 101 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Latin
America
TOP 10 AIRLINES WITHIN LATIN AMERICA

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING CARRIER NAME

SEATS

Gol

967,336

TAM Airlines

815,604

LAN Airlines

601,120

Avianca

516,916

Azul

444,900

Aeromexico

330,887

COPA

247,272

Aerolineas Argentinas

221,340

Interjet

221,076

10

Volaris

208,704

CAPACITY BY CARRIER TO/FROM/WITHIN LATIN AMERICA


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014
Gol

1,032,024

TAM Airlines

900,964

LAN Airlines

648,699

Avianca

597,082

Azul

519,225

Aeromexico

431,345

American Airlines

385,305

COPA

297,310

Aerolineas Argentinas

255,314

Other

3,182,101
0k

500k

1,000k 1,500k 2,000k 2,500k 3,000k 3,500k 4,000k

LATIN AMERICA TOP 10 AIRPORTS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

RANKING AIRPORT NAME

SEATS

Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport

724,512

Mexico City Juarez International Airport

654,682

Bogota El Dorado International Airport

530,363

Sao Paulo Congonhas Airport

442,348

Brasilia International Airport

Lima Jorge Chavez International Airport

335,407

Rio de Janeiro Galeo International Airport

331,650

Santiago International Airport

320,284

Buenos Aires Aeroparque Jorge Newbery Airport

255,972

10

Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont Airport

254,381

Pg 102 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

405,113

ITH THE FIRST WAVE OF AIRLINE


CONSOLIDATION COMPLETE, LATIN
AMERICAN aviation enters a new phase in
2014.
As the worlds eyes turned to Brazil and the World Cup,
the majority of Latin Americas airlines believe the year holds
promise as air travel growth within the region has yet to reach
its full potential. Even though Latin Americas two largest
markets began the year on tenuous grounds, Latin Americas
large airlines have built fairly sound business models and
seem prepared to exhibit capacity discipline if market
conditions worsen.
Now that the two major mergers between Star Alliances
Avianca-TACA and LAN-TAM (the latter of which is in
oneworld) have officially closed, the stage is set for Latin
America to exhibit a new equilibrium that should help the
region profitably reach its growth potential.
But Latin American carriers entered 2014 with far from
identical outlooks depending on their respective countriesof
origin. In many cases, externalities, notably economic
conditions, are creating great uncertainty, with Argentina and
Venezuela heading the list of problem countries.
Airlines in the regions largest markets, Brazil and Mexico,
are however hoping for improved economic conditions to
bolster softness in demand created by fiscal uncertainty at
home.
Brazils major airlines were adopting a cautious view of
the FIFA World Cup beginning as currency depreciation,
infrastructure challenges and pricing caps threatened to create
a non-event for carriers.
Mexicos largest carriers also hope for a rebound in the
domestic market during 2014 after slowing economic growth
in 2013 created softness in demand and eroded pricing
traction. After low-cost rival Volaris completed a successful
initial public offering, both VivaAerobus and Interjet made
rumblings of completing IPOs during 2014, but VivaAerobus
at the last minute cancelled its public debut, citing market
volatility.
Colombia shows continued promise during 2014, unlike
Brazil and Mexico, whose slowing domestic air travel growth
reflected the tenuous states of each countrys economy
during 2013. Colombia, in contrast, recorded a 14% jump in
domestic passengers during 2013 to 21.5 million. For the first
two months of 2014, domestic passenger growth in Colombia
was roughly 12%.
Colombia in particular has a changing set of competitive
dynamics in 2014 as upstart low-cost carrier VivaColombia
opens a base in Bogota and enters key trunk routes served by
larger carriers Avianca and LAN Colombia.
At the same time Avianca Holdings (which includes
all of TACAs operations) faces stiffer competition in the
Colombian market. It has reached a steady-state market share
of 15% in Peru and is tempering its growth within Ecuador,
citing softened domestic demand. Artificial barriers erected
by the Argentinian government continue to protect money
losing, state-owned Aerolineas Argentinas, which is opting to
expand in its safe home market and near-international routes.
Brazil, however, remains the regions largest market, still
with enormous upside. But there is pause for breath. Brazils
economy reached a zenith shortly after it campaigned
successfully in 2009 to host this years World Cup and the
2016 summer Olympics. The countrys GDP growth had
soared in 2010 to 7.5%, but by 2012 sagged to 0.9% and
increased to a tepid 2.5% in 2013. As Brazils dimming
economic prospects began to suppress domestic demand, the

LATIN AMERICA FLEET

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014


2500

2,049
2000

1500

1000

623
500

237
0

In service

In storage

On order

LATIN AMERICA BREAKDOWN FOR AIRCRAFT IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

7.5%
14.2%

47.5%
14.2%

16.6%
Narrowbody Jet
Widebody Jet

Small Commercial Turboprop

Regional Jet

Turboprop

LATIN AMERICA CAPACITY SEATS SHARE BY ALLIANCE


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

12.8%

15.4%

45.2%

26.7%
Unaligned

oneworld

Star Alliance

Pg 103 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

SkyTeam

countrys airlines found themselves in a state of over-supply.


During CY2013 ASKs in Brazils domestic market actually
fell 3% as traffic grew a mere 1.4%, according to regulator
ANAC hardly the stuff that emerging market dreams
are made of. This is in contrast to the 3% capacity growth
in CY2012 and a nearly 7% increase in traffic. Prospects
for Brazil looked more promising at the start of 2014, as
domestic traffic increased 8.7% year-on-year during the first
four months of the year.
Loss making Gol was the first carrier to spring into action
to slash supply in 2012, and continued to decrease its ASK
growth by 6.4% during the first nine months of 2013. While
the carrier still continues to post top-line losses, it has
recently recorded some positive margin improvement and is
stepping up efforts to clean up its balance sheet and improve
its leverage ratios.
TAM initiated its domestic ASK reductions later than
Gol, evidenced by TAMs FY2012 capacity reduction of just
1% compared with 5% for Gol. During 2013 Gols overall
domestic capacity grew 5% while TAM, now part of the
behemoth LATAM Airlines Group, cut Brazilian ASKs by
8%.
TAMs parent, LATAM Airlines Group, has officially
declared its operations within Brazil have rebounded,
evidenced by its 19% improvement in unit revenues in
3Q2013. LATAM is leveraging its scale to eliminate TAMs
currency challenges in the Brazilian market the BRL fell
13% against the USD in 3Q2013 by mid-2014. LATAM
is reducing its BRL exposure by moving TAMs debt and
aircraft obligations to LATAMs balance sheet, which is
denominated in USD.
Gol has no large umbrella parent company to protect it
from the sagging currency; but at the end of 9M2013 Gol
estimated it had hedged 70% of foreign exchange exposure
for the following three months. Additionally, Gol believes it
can begin to improve load factors during 2014 after opting
to trade loads for yields during a large portion of 2013. Gol
CEO Paulo Kakinoff has stressed opportunities are available
to sustain yields while boosting loads as the carrier declares it
is strengthening its focus on corporate customers.
Even as Brazils largest airlines opted to rationalise supply,
the carriers fastest growing airlines continued their rapid
growth. Azul grew its capacity 31% and traffic by 32% in
CY2013 and Avianca Brazil also boosted its supply by 31%
while enjoying traffic growth of 35%.
Azul aims to access the public markets during 2014 after
shelving plans for an IPO in 2013. It is an interesting move
given projected GDP growth for Brazil of just 2.5% this year,
an underwhelming forecast for an emerging market. The
carrier has already outlined a BRL20 million hit (USD8.3
million) from capping its fares during the World Cup, which
doesnt bode well for a market where domestic demand is
languishing. Avinaca Brazil has also publicly declared it
would cap fares during the tournament.
Brazils two largest carriers have yet to commit to fare
limits, presumably because corporate demand could be
crimped during the event as business travellers may eschew
the festivities. Pressure is also mounting on airports in cities
hosting the World Cup to ensure their readiness for the
tournament, but doubts are growing over Brazils ability to
update its infrastructure in time for footballs premier event.
Mexicos airlines are hoping for an economic rebound
to improve their yields. They too face a level of uncertainty
heading into 2014 as the countrys GDP growth rate fell to
under 2% in 2013. Growth in Mexicos domestic air travel

LATIN AMERICA PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
100

75

50

25

737

777

787

72

A320

A330

20
24

20
23

20
22

20
21

20
20

20
19

E195
SSJ

20
18

20
16

E190
AN158

20
17

20
15

20
14

A350

LATIN AMERICA MOST POPULAR AIRCRAFT TYPES IN SERVICE


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014

23.5%
36.5%

3.2%
3.2%
3.2%
A320

737

E190

20.4%

4.2%
72

5.9%
767

CARAVAN

42

Other

LCC CAPACITY SHARE (% OF TOTAL SEATS) FOR WITHIN LATIN AMERICA:


2011 TO 2014*
SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG
*Year to Month indicated
50

40

30

28.3%

29.9%

31.8% 31.6%

34.4%33.9%

21.7%
20

17.6%
14.3%

10
5.7%

7.2% 7.8%

9.6%

3.2%
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Pg 104 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

JanMay
2014

market slowed to 7% during 2013, versus double-digit 10%


growth in 2012. Weakened demand resulted in soft yields for
the countrys publicly traded airlines Aeromexico and Volaris
during 2013 as each carrier worked to maintain its respective
load factor. Weakness in pricing traction continued into early
2014 as Volaris average fare sank 21% during 1Q2014 and
Aeromexico recorded a 13% decline in yields during the first
three months of 2014.
Some of Aeromexicos softness in yields was deliberate
as the carrier is attempting to bolster loads in the Mexican
domestic market after losing market share to Volaris and
Interjet, and to a lesser degree VivaAerobus, during the last
few years. Those carriers worked furiously to seize on gaps left
by now defunct carriers, most notably Mexicana.
Grupo Aeromexico, which includes Aeromexico Connect,
essentially sustained its leading market share during CY2013,
accounting for 36% of the domestic market compared
with 37% the year prior. Interjet retained its 24% share
year-on-year in 2013 while Volaris grew its share 3ppt to
23%. VivaAerobus kept its share consistent at roughly 12%
from CY2012 to CY2013. For the 12M ending Mar-2014,
Aermexicos share remained at 37% while Interjet and Volaris
maintained their 24% and 23% respective shares. VivAerobus
also maintained its 12% share during that period.
But it appears VivaAerobus has ambitions to increase its
stature in the Mexican market after placing an order for 52
Airbus narrowbodies during late 2013. Some of the aircraft
are pegged to replace its current fleet of 19 older Boeing
737-300 classics, but the higher-density Airbus narrowbodies
12 current generation A320s and 40 A320neos could also
result in VivaAerobus tripling its capacity by 2021 when it
completes deliveries of the new jets.
VivaAerobus, Volaris, Interjet and Aeromexico are basing
their business models in varying degrees on capturing bus
traffic as discretionary income among Mexicos middle class
grows. Mexicos four largest carriers now have approximately
228 aircraft on order, compared with a cumulative total of
281 aircraft for Gol and LATAM Airlines Group.
While Mexicos market shows promise, the immediate
goal for 2014 is building and sustaining demand as the
Mexican economy ended 2013 on shaky ground. And carrier
confidence in a complete rebound during 2014 is tenuous at
best, evidenced by VivaAerobus cancelled IPO.
VivaColombia will take on Avianca and LAN in 2014 with
a new base in Bogota. If conditions in the Mexican market
worsen, VivaAerobus has the flexibility to perhaps transfer
some of its incoming aircraft to sister carrier VivaColombia,
which emerged as Colombias first full-fledged lowcost carrier in 2012. Both carriers are partially owned by
investment firm Irelandia, which is headed by Ryanair
founder Declan Ryan. After operating below the radar during
2013, VivaColombia is now working to establish a base in the
countrys largest market, Bogota, upping competition with
Colombias largest and second-largest carriers Avianca and
LAN Colombia. The airline introduces its first international
route on 1-Aug-2014 when it introduces flights to Panama
City (operating to Panama Pacific International airport) from
Bogota and Medellin.
Mr Ryan has tabled ambitious goals for VivaColombia,
estimating the carrier could operate a fleet of 50 aircraft (it
presently operates five A320 narrowbodies). Conditions in
Colombia might warrant Mr Ryans ambition with 14%
passenger growth in the country in 2013, Colombia seems
ripe for the type of traffic stimulation ushered in by the Viva
groups pure-play low-cost carrier philosophy.

74 %

CHILEAN DOMESTIC MARKET SHARE BELONGING


TO LAN

After operating below the radar during 2013, VivaColombia in 2014 is working to
establish a base in the countrys largest market, Bogota.

Pg 105 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

Aviancas response to VivaColombias entry into major


Colombian trunk routes should be interesting as Aviancas
market share during 2Q2013 fell to 55% from 60% the year
prior. While Avianca reported in mid-2013 that Colombia
was one of the groups most profitable markets, the company
could experience yield erosion within Colombia in 2014 as it
might find itself matching VivaColombias fares in order to
sustain passenger loyalty.
Avianca also appears to be capping its domestic share in
Peru at 15%. TACA began targeting Perus domestic market
in 2010 and rapidly built up share to its current levels, but it
appears Avianca has no further expansion plans after recently
declaring it would not expand its fleet in Perus capital and
largest market Lima.
The company has also downgraded its hub in San Jose,
Costa Rica (a legacy TACA hub) to a focus city, which
benefits Panamas Copa and US carriers Delta and JetBlue.
In late 2013, Copa emerged as San Joses largest carrier after
adding a ninth daily flight to its strong hub in Panama City.
Copa, with the help of a supportive government, has built
Panama City into a powerful hub that connects to both
strategic Latin American markets and numerous routes in
North America.
After the consolidation shake-out in Latin America that
created Avianca Holdings and LATAM Airlines Holdings,
Copas fate as a stand-alone carrier was called into question.
But with the power of its hub in Panama City and a strong
financial performance it has recorded operating margins
above 17% since 2004 Copa is proving that under the
right conditions independent carriers can still thrive in Latin
America. It plans ASK growth of 10% during 2014 as new
service to Fort Lauderdale, Georgetown and Montreal debuts
in 2014.
Meanwhile, Avianca has also curtailed its growth within
Ecuador after concluding that the elimination of a fuel
subsidy and the opening of a new airport farther away from
Quitos city centre weakened demand within the country.
Aviancas rivals in the domestic Peruvian and Ecuadorean
markets, LAN Peru and LAN Ecuador ,continue their
unabated growth within those markets.
Peru and Ecuador were LATAM Airlines Groups fastest
growing markets in 3Q2013 as ASKs within those regions
increased 18% and 35%, respectively, year-on-year.
Argentinas government continues to hold tight to its
protectionist ideals, ensuring a rocky road for its airlines.
LAN Argentina faces a much different scenario. Its growth in
the domestic market remains hampered by the governments
protection of renationalised flag carrier Aerolineas
Argentinas. The latest affront occurred in 2013 when
Argentinas government attempted to evict LAN Argentina
from its maintenance base, which would have resulted in the
carrier exiting the domestic market.
In response to increasing domestic demand and the
governments constant thwarting of growing competition
within Argentina, Aerolineas, now embraced within
SkyTeam, has ordered 26 Boeing 737-800s. Presently
Aerolineas has 50 aircraft in operation, including Airbus
A330/A340 widebodies and Embraer 190s operated by its
subsidiary Austral.
Even as Aerolineas benefits from favourable protection
from Argentinas government, the carrier has lost roughly
USD2 billion since it was renationalised in 2008, and its
profitability targets have consistently been missed. Although
the airline has made improvements in re-fleeting and grown
both revenues and passengers carried since the government

17%

COPAS OPERATING MARGIN SINCE 2004

Outside the two largest markets,


Brazil and Mexico, a main theme
throughout Latin America has been
the strong growth in the domestic
markets.

14%

DOMESTIC GROWTH FOR 2013 IN CHILE AND COLOMBIA

Pg 106 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

reassumed control, it is time for Argentinas government


to loosen the tight reins it holds on domestic air travel
and infuse real competition into the marketplace. But the
government has bigger things on its mind as the economy
teeters towards another potential collapse.
In the financial disaster stakes, post-Chavez Venezuela is
causing considerable pain to several airlines among them
Copa and American as tiered devaluation is imposed by
the government. Repatriating funds at well below official
exchange rates is a painful exercise for foreign airlines; Copa
reportedly has USD300-400 million tied up in the country,
while American is USD700 million in the same straits. Like
Argentina, Venezuela is a strong supporter of protectionist
strategies; while these are not necessarily the root of the
problem for airlines, it may be more than coincidence that
the countries share other serious shortcomings. Most airlines
serving Venezuela have significantly cut their operations to
the country beginning in Jul-2014 American Airlines is
cutting its weekly flights from the US to Venezuela from 48
to 10. Copa Airlines in May-2014 began cutting its seats on
offer to Venezuela by 40%.
The outlook for Chile is more upbeat. Chile has been the
fastest growing market in Latin America in recent years,
quietly outperforming much larger Brazil and Mexico, despite
being one of the largest markets in the world lacking LCCs.
Passenger traffic in Chile grew by 8% in 2013 to 16.5 million,
driven by a 14% increase in domestic traffic to 9.5 million as
international traffic grew by only 2% to 7 million.
More rapid domestic growth is expected in 2014 as Chiles
economy remains robust, with expected GDP growth of
about 4%. LAN will again be the main beneficiary as the
carrier has a dominating 74% share of the Chilean domestic
market. LATAM also flew 66% of passengers in Chiles
international market in 2013. Chiles second carrier, Sky
Airline, has been growing rapidly but is still very small,
accounting for only a 22% share of the domestic market and a
5% share of the domestic market in 2013.
As one of Latin Americas last remaining independent
full service carriers, Sky is a potential takeover target for one
of the regions groups, particularly Avianca. But LATAMs
domination of its home market makes it very challenging for
a competing group or new entrant, despite Chiles generally
favourable economic conditions and a stable political
environment.
Outside the two largest markets Brazil and Mexico, a
main theme throughout Latin America has been the strong
growth in the domestic markets. The 14% domestic growth
for 2013 in Chile, where domestic growth was in the 18% to
19% range in 2010 to 2012, was matched in Colombia and
surpassed in Peru. Colombia reported 14% domestic growth
in 2013 to 21.5 million while Peru recorded 15% growth to
8.3 million.
Argentina also had double digit domestic growth in
2013 of 12% to 12.5 million as Aerolineas focused capacity
expansion on the domestic market. Only Colombia had
international growth (14%) that kept up with domestic
growth. Peru reported 11% international growth while Chile
recorded international growth of only 2% and Argentina
experienced a 3% drop in international passenger traffic.
These are encouraging features for the region; not only
is there substantial upside internationally, but the major
domestic markets are showing considerable resilience as
national economies gain scale and maturity.

Latin America
Selected Airlines

GOL PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
20

1. GOL

15

10

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, GOL Linhas Areas Inteligentes
(Gol) is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The LCC has smaller hubs in Sao Paulos
Congonhas International Airport, Rio de Janiero International Airport and
Brasilia International Airport. Gol is a major player in South America, with
over 40% of the Brazilian domestic market. Gol operates a fleet of Boeing
737NG aircraft supporting an extensive domestic network within Brazil
and services to 61 destinations in ten countries across Central and South
America.

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

Boeing
737-700(ETOPS)

Boeing 737-8

60

100

23

135

83

Total:

24
20

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15

GOL STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


3500

No. of Weekly Frequencies

IN SERVICE
30

Boeing 767-200ER

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

2500

Boeing 737-700

Boeing 737-800

737

3000

GOL FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

20

14

2000

1500

1000

500

-500

Flight Time (Hours)

GOL TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

7,728 seats

GRU - AEP
EZE - GRU

4,416 seats
4,048 seats

CCS - GRU
GRU - MVD

3,680 seats
3,312 seats

EZE - POA
CCS - PUJ

2,944 seats

GRU - COR

2,576 seats

GRU - VVI

2,576 seats

MVD - POA

2,576 seats

EZE - FLN

2,576 seats
0k

Pg 107 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

1k

2k

3k

4k

5k

6k

7k

8k

9k

10k

Latin America
Selected Airlines

TAM AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
30

25

2. TAM Airlines

20

15

10

Based at Sao Paolo-Guarulhos International Airport, TAM Airlines is listed


on the New York and Sao Paulo Stock Exchanges, and is the national airline
and largest carrier in Brazil. TAM has an estimated 50% of the domestic
market share and 75% of the international market share. Using a fleet
of narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, TAM operates an
extensive network of domestic and regional services within South America
and international services to North America and Europe. TAM ended its
membership of Star Alliance on 30-Mar-2014, joining oneworld on the
following day.

IN STORAGE

Airbus A319-100

26

91

Airbus A320200NEO

18

Airbus A321-200

12

36

Airbus A330-200

Airbus A340-500

Airbus A350900XWB

27

Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 777-300ER

10

156

83

22
20

TAM AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

1000

500

-500

10

Flight Time (Hours)

TAM AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

11,278 seats

SCL - GRU
MIA - GRU

10,498 seats
7,964 seats

GRU - JFK
GRU - AEP

7,308 seats

EZE - GRU

5,210 seats

GRU - MCO

5,129 seats

GRU - CDG

5,068 seats

GRU - FRA

5,068 seats

GRU - LHR

5,068 seats

GRU - MVD

4,524 seats
0k

Pg 108 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

21
20

20
20

19
20

20

17
20

16
20

15

18

777

1500

ON ORDER

Airbus A320-200

Total:

A350

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

No. of Weekly Frequencies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

A320

2000

TAM AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

20

14

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

14k

Latin America
Selected Airlines

LAN AIRLINES PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
40

3. LAN Airlines

30

20

10

21

20

22
20

787

20

A320

20

19
20

18

17
20

16

15

20

20

Based in Santiago, LAN Airlines is the national airline of Chile. One of the
largest airlines in Latin America, LAN Airlines uses a fleet of Boeing and
Airbus narrow and wide-body aircraft and operates an extensive network
within Central and South America as well as Australia, the Pacific, North
America and Europe. LAN is a prominent player in South American aviation.
It is one of the most consistently profitable airlines in the industry, and has
subsidiaries in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and a cargo subsidiary. LAN is a
member of the oneworld alliance.

20

20

14

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

LAN AIRLINES STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


1750

1500

LAN AIRLINES FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

IN SERVICE

IN STORAGE

ON ORDER

1000

Airbus A319-100

Airbus A320-200

43

22

Airbus A320200NEO

20

Airbus A321-200

18

Airbus A340-300X

Boeing 767-300ER

31

Boeing 787-8

17

Boeing 787-9

10

87

87

Total:

No. of Weekly Frequencies

1250

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

750

500

250

-250

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

LAN AIRLINES TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

20,668 seats

SCL - LIM
EZE - SCL

14,800 seats
9,070 seats

EZE - LIM
SCL - AEP

7,056 seats
6,672 seats

SCL - MDZ
SCL - GRU

6,352 seats

LIM - MIA

6,188 seats

LIM - LAX

6,188 seats
5,746 seats

SCL - MIA
SCL - MVD

4,762 seats
0k

Pg 109 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

5k

10k

15k

20k

25k

Latin America
Selected Airlines

AEROMEXICO PROJECTED DELIVERY DATES FOR AIRCRAFT ON ORDER*


SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE | MAY-2014
12

10

4. Aeromexico

Wholly-owned by Grupo Financiero Banamex, Aeromexico is based in


Mexico City and operates an extensive regional network within Central and
South America, as well as to Asia, North America and Europe. Aeromexico,
together with subsidiaries Aeromexico Connect (regional division) and
Aeromexico Travel (charter division), are the largest domestic airline in
Mexico and, until Mexicanas apparent demise in Aug-2010, was the secondlargest international airline behind Mexicana. Aeromexico is a founding
member of SkyTeam.

Boeing 737-700

IN STORAGE
0

60

20

Boeing 767-200ER

Boeing 767-300ER

Boeing 777-200ER

Boeing 737-800

Boeing 787-8

Boeing 787-9

60

71

Total:

23
20

22
20

21
20

20
20

19
20

18
20

17
20

16
20

15

AEROMEXICO STAGE LENGTHS

SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014


2500

1500

ON ORDER

26

Boeing 737-8

787

*Excludes new aircraft that are coming from leasing companies

No. of Weekly Frequencies

SOURCE: CAPA FLEET DATABASE

IN SERVICE

737

2000

AEROMEXICO FLEET SUMMARY AS AT MAY-2014


AIRCRAFT

20

20

14

1000

500

-500

10

15

Flight Time (Hours)

AEROMEXICO TOP 10 INTERNATIONAL ROUTES BY SEATS


SOURCE: CAPA - CENTRE FOR AVIATION AND OAG | MAY-2014

9,795 seats

MEX - LAX
MEX - JFK

9,674 seats
5,910 seats

MEX - MIA
MEX - ORD

5,790 seats

MEX - LAS

5,640 seats

MEX - IAH

5,610 seats
5,044 seats

MEX - MAD
MEX - LIM

4,596 seats
4,200 seats

LAX - GDL
MEX - EZE

4,058 seats
0k

Pg 110 | CAPA World Aviation Yearbook 2014

2k

4k

6k

8k

10k

12k

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