Solid Worldwide Airline Growth Trends Continue in April, with the Exception of North America, Reports OAG

Global airline capacity and frequency will grow in all regions of the world except North America in April 2010, which sees declining capacity and frequency within the region, when compared to the same month last year, reports OAG (www.oagaviation.com), the global leader in aviation intelligence, in its monthly report on trends in the supply of airline seats and flights.

Monthly analysis of the OAG schedule information indicates that the total global number of seats available in April is increasing 6% over 2009. The total number of seats available in April 2010 is 303.4 million, compared to 287.3 million in April 2009. Worldwide, airlines will operate 4% more flights in April 2010, as compared to April 2009.

Growth within and to and from Europe remains steady this April, over April 2009. Travel to and from Europe grew 6% in total seat capacity and 8% in the number of flights. Within Europe, seat capacity grew 4% and the total number of flights increased by 2%, month-over-month. Airports in Europe with steady growth include Frankfurt, which increased capacity by 2% to 6.0 million; and Madrid, increasing capacity 2% to 5.98 million.

“Good growth in airline capacity and frequency is being seen in regions of the world that have experienced sluggish growth for years. Africa and the Middle East continue to show significant increases while in previously strong regions, such as North America, capacity has remained flat,” said Peter von Moltke, Chief Executive Officer, UBM Aviation.
The highest percentage change in seat capacity to/from a region, again this month is to and from Africa, with an increase in the number of seats by 18%, year-over-year; the number of flights to this region increased by 19%. Traffic within Africa increases this month by 9% in the number of flights, and 10% in seat capacity.

The number of seats and flights to and from the Middle East increase 9% and 10%, respectively, in April. Within this region, seat capacity increases 15% and the number of flights by 13%. Other significant growth is occurring within Central and South America where capacity and frequency will increase 16%; and within Asia/Pacific with a 10% increase in seats, and 11% increase in flights.
“All regions, except North America, continue to show solid growth in capacity and frequency. North American carriers are cautiously monitoring demand and traffic trends as they refine growth strategies,” continued von Moltke.
The only region not to show growth in April is within North America, where capacity declines 2% and frequency by 3%. Capacity to/from North America, however, is growing, with the number of seats increasing by 2%, and flights by 1%. The small growth in this region can be seen at San Francisco International Airport, which increased capacity by 4%; Baltimore Washington International also by 4%; Miami International by 3%; and Los Angeles International and Atlanta Hartsfield both by 2%.

OAG FACTS uses interactive graphs to display performance trends of specific airports, routes, countries or regions from 2001 onwards, sourced from OAG’s consolidated database of global airline schedules. A more detailed review of this month’s OAG FACTS statistics – including information about specific regions, routes and airports with illustrative charts and graphs – is available to download at: http://www.oagaviation.com/aviation-reports/reports-facts-0410.htm