CAPA · 01:30
There are those in the United States, led by the right-leaning Reason Foundation, who consistently argue for the privatisation of US airports either by lease, or public-private partnerships, to build specific infrastructure like terminals. (Both are referred to as P3s in the US). Equally there are those, most often found in municipal (city, county, state) office that prefer the status quo, and the inherent certainty of traditional avenues of financing such as tax exempt airport bonds, passenger facility charges, airline terminal leasing charges and so on. The non-privatisers overall have won the argument, which began with the '1996 Airport Pilot Privatisation Programme', and which today sees only one major airport fully privatised (and that in an overseas US Territory - Puerto Rico). Now the matter has been thrust back into the spotlight with the desire of the nation's incumbent president to modernise and grow Washington Dulles Airport on a grand and costly scale, with over USD20 billi
CAPA · 01:30
Japan's major airline groups have made some notable structural changes to their LCC stables to better position them for the next wave of growth in this segment. ANA Holdings made the decision to close down its hybrid/LCC, AirJapan, in Mar-2026, although it still has the much larger and more established Peach in its group to pursue its low-cost objectives. The major LCC in the JAL Group, Jetstar Japan, is shifting to an all-Japanese ownership model with the exit of shareholder Qantas. This will allow the LCC to be rebranded as it seeks further growth, and also brings in a significant new investor. Peach has been growing faster than its much larger ANA full-service sibling, highlighting the value the group sees in the LCC business model. Jetstar Japan has seen strong international growth in recent years, although its domestic capacity has remained flat or dropped. Of the other JAL LCCs, Zipair is aiming to continue its steady growth as it builds its widebody fleet and network. Spring Jap