Flights increase

OAG, the Luton-based airline data specialists, has published the airline seat and movement statistics for August which show that global scheduled airline flights are expected to grow by 1% versus 2011, whilst seat capacity will be 3% higher, driven by increasing average aircraft size which has grown from 127 in August 2011 to 129 this year.

Atlanta will remain the largest global hub in August, with flights static on the same period last year, although seats are expected to increase by 1%.  The next biggest, Beijing, continues to perform well, with increases to both flights and seat capacity on August 2011.  Atlanta offers 9.8m seats as against Beijing 9.2m, but in terms of actual flights, with its generally smaller aircraft, comes in at 80k against 48k.  With 8.1m seats available Heathrow remains the world’s busiest international airport.

Globally, low-cost operators continue to take market share from other carriers.  In August 2012, low-cost seats will account for 26% of the market, an increase of 1% on the previous year.  The number of flights is also expected to increase by 1%, taking the worldwide market share to 22%.  Low-cost seats and flights have more than doubled in the last 10 years. www.oag.com

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