Malaysia's Air Passenger Slump, Sydney Joins the 'Two-Airports Club' & Singapore Plans Christmas with BTS

As we head into the final two months of a turbulent 2026, there's a multitude of travel talking points to decipher across ASEAN and beyond. We start with Australia's first major new airport for 50 years, which catapults Sydney into the club of cities with two international airports. We move onto Malaysia, which reported a 12% decrease in airport passengers in September, including a worrying 22% decline in domestic air travel. Next to Thailand, where we decode why the controversial departure tax has been shelved (for now). Indonesia's Whoosh high-speed rail reaches the 1 million foreign passengers milestone, and Malaysia says travellers can jump aboard the new East Coast Rail Line from 12 December. Meanwhile, Hanoi launches heritage-tech experiences, digital payments and AI usage in travel continue to surge across ASEAN, according to a new report of the region's six largest economies. We preview Singapore's month-long calendar of Christmas with BTS experiences for fans who may or may not be attending one of the four Arirang concerts at the National Stadium. And, we finish by diving into new modelling from Tourism Economics, which forecasts which countries across Asia will - and won't - surpass their 2019 visitor arrivals in 2026. Get ready for couple of intriguing surprises among those two lists.