Global airline capacity grows for fifth consecutive month in January 2010

Global airline capacity for January 2010 shows positive growth compared to January 2009, according to the latest monthly report on trends in the supply of airline flights and seats from aviation data specialists OAG.

This growth marks the fifth consecutive month in which airline capacity has shown growth, with 294.6 million available seats this month, an increase of 3% over January 2009. Global frequencies are up 2% compared to January 2009, with a total of 2.37 million flights scheduled for January 2010. Worldwide, frequency and capacity in the low-cost sector are up by 10% compared to a year ago.

Analysis of major routes reveals that while certain routes are experiencing positive growth, others continue to decline. Frequency and capacity between Western Europe and the Middle East reflect an increase of 7%, with 1,002 more flights and 194,307 more seats compared to January 2009.Routes between Western Europe and Africa show healthy growth, with 3,887 more flights (increase of 19%) and 690,790 more seats (18% increase). Showing decline is the transatlantic market between North America and Western Europe, with a 5% decrease in seats (287,979). Frequencies are down 6%, with 1,274 fewer flights for the month.

A hubs analysis reveals that Dubai has the biggest growth, with a 17% increase in frequency and capacity compared to January 2009.

The North American region reflects a combination of decline and growth. Within North America, there is a reduction of 22,826 flights (2.7%) and 2,454,469 fewer seats (2.8%). However, frequency and capacity to and from the region show a positive growth of 3% in flights (2,347) and positive growth of 1% in seats (230,554). Flights to and from Europe show increases compared to January 2009, with 5% more flights and 3% more seats. Latin America, Asia, South/Central America, the Middle East and Africa are also showing increases in frequency and capacity.

The month-by-month trend since the start of the economic downturn can be seen below: