Mid East airlines buck the trend with flights increase

The world's airlines have scheduled 6% fewer flights for April 2009 compared with the same month last year, with a 3% drop in seat capacity, but according to the latest statistics from OAG the Middle East is bucking the trend.

This is the ninth successive month ofoverall declines, and represents a reduction of more than 136,000 flights and 9 million seats year on year. The total number of flights scheduled to operate worldwide this month is 2.34 million, offering 287.3 million seats to travelers around the globe. But in the Middle East, the figures are improving.

The figures are revealed in the April 2009 edition of OAG FACTS (Frequency & Capacity Trend Statistics),

The Middle East region is enjoying a significant upward trend on all counts. According to the OAG research, flights and capacity for travel within the region are up by 12% and 11% respectively, while the number of flights and seats offered to and from the region are both showing growth year on year of 15% for April 2009. This represents an additional 5,701 flights and 1.2 million seats on offer.

Flights to and from Africa are also showing positive trends with the numbers up by 6% with a 7% increase in capacity, although flights within the region are down by 1.6% with virtually no change in capacity.

The bad news came from the traditional markets. Flight schedules within Europe are down by 8% compared to April 2008, with 50,854 fewer flights. Capacity within the region is down by 7% with 4.7 million fewer seats on offer. The UK shows a steep decline with a reduction in domestic flights and capacity of 13% and 14% respectively, while international operations are down by 10% (11,237 fewer flights) and 9% (1.6 million fewer seats).

Figures for North America show downturns of 9% in domestic frequencies and 8% in capacity, with a 6% drop for flights and capacity to and from the region. Flights within Central/South America have 5% less capacity, while Asia is relatively stable with a 1% drop in capacity to and from the region and a welcome rise of 3% in the number of seats offered on services within the region.

David Beckerman, VP Market Intelligence at OAG, said: “The OAG figures for April reveal some sharp contrasts. The Middle East and Africa, and Asia to a lesser degree, are showing growth, while Europe and North America continue to show steep declines. These contrasts can be seen also on the key long-haul routes, where transatlantic and transpacific services are down significantly compared with this time last year, while services between Western Europe and the Middle East have increased by 16%.”