4 July 2005

OAG REVEALS THAT AIRLINE CAPACITY HITS FIVE-YEAR HIGH

• World airlines provide over 280 million seats for July flights
• 14.4 million additional seats provided versus July 2004
• 4.5 million seats added in Asia and 3.9 million in Europe
• Worldwide the low cost sector provides nearly five million additional seats
• Africa leads with 15 per cent growth in seat capacity

For July 2005 the worlds airlines are providing more then 280 million airline tickets as they gear up for one of the busiest seasons for years.

Latest figures from OAG reveal that airlines plan to operate nearly 2.4 million flights this month, over 96,000 more than in the same month last year. The number of seats on offer has increased by more than 14.4 million, five per cent higher than in July 2004.

The statistics are revealed in OAG's latest Quarterly Airline Traffic Statistics, a quarterly snapshot of airline activity around the world. OAG collates data from more than 1000 scheduled airline, on a daily basis, which provides a unique overview of anticipated travel demand versus historical trends.

"July marks the start of the northern hemisphere summer holiday season, so carriers would naturally expect to increase their capacity," says Duncan Alexander, managing director of OAG Business Development. "However, the underlying trend of year-on-year growth since 2001 is an indication of steadily increasing airline industry confidence."

The big growth areas are within Asia, 4.5 million more seats and within Europe with 3.9 additional seats. On a global basis the low cost sector has added nearly 5 million seats, 2.5 million of which have been in Europe.

Of the major world markets, North America remains the dominant player with more than 102 million available seats on offer to, from and within the USA and Canada.

However, almost 82 million of those seats are for domestic flights. International flights planned this month account for only 20.8 million.

The 20.6 million seats provided for flights to and from Europe this month represent a seven per cent increase over last year's figure; equivalent figures for Latin America and Asia Pacific are six per cent higher.

In intercontinental travel terms, however, Africa is July's runaway winner. The extra half-million available seats this July is a 12 per cent increase over July 2004. The number of seats available on flights within Africa is 15 per cent higher. These growth figures are very encouraging for the African Continent's future economic potential.

"In July 2001, there were just over 260 million airline tickets on sale worldwide," says Alexander. "In July 2002 and 2003, worldwide capacity was below 250 million. Last year, July saw the figure back up to 267 million, and this year's five per cent increase, giving the highest July capacity figure for five years, is a real fillip for the industry."

For more detailed OAG statistical analysis on capacity trends please call Margareta Stanley at DBA on +44 207 930 8033 or email info@nchl.demon.co.uk