OAG Travel News

This week I thought I would look at various countries (with a couple of U.S. states thrown in) with similar physical sizes and compare the levels of air service.  Of course, there are numerous factors which determine appropriate levels of air service, including – but not limited to – population, average income levels, propensity to travel and alternate terms of transportation (or lack thereof).  The air service information provided here provides a glimpse into how widely the level of air service differs for areas of the world that are similar in physical size.

The 10 countries and states I chose are ranked in terms of size (largest to smallest).

Paraguay (406,752km2/157,048 mi2)
Population: 6,400,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 2
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 13
Largest airport: Asuncion (ASU) – 85 percent of Paraguay’s total flights
Number of airlines serving Paraguay: 7
Largest airline: Transport Aereos Mercosur – 48 percent of Paraguay’s total flights
Domestic service: 15 percent of Paraguay’s air service is domestic
International service: 85 percent of Paraguay’s air service is international

California, USA (403,970 km2/155,973 mi2)
Population: 36,800,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 29
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 2,343
Largest airport: Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – 29 percent of California’s total flights
Number of airlines serving California: 55
Largest airline: Southwest Airlines – 27 percent of California’s total flights
Domestic service: 92 percent of California’s air service is domestic; of the domestic service, 18 percent is intra-California; the remaining 82 percent is to other destinations in the U.S.
International service: 8 percent of California’s air service is international

Zimbabwe (390,757 km2/150,872 mi2)
Population: 12,500,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 3
Largest airport: Harare (HRE) – 67 percent of Zimbabwe’s total flights
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 21
Number of airlines serving Zimbabwe: 7
Largest airline: Air Zimbabwe – 52 percent of Zimbabwe’s total flights
Domestic service: 29 percent of Zimbabwe’s air service is domestic
International service: 71 percent of Zimbabwe’s air service is international

Japan (377,915 km2/145,914 mi2)
Population: 127,600,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 63
Largest airport: Tokyo Haneda (HND) – 22 percent of Japan’s total flights
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 2,146
Number of airlines serving Japan: 70
Largest airline: All Nippon Airways – 44 percent of Japan’s total flights
Domestic service: 82 percent of Japan’s air service is domestic
International service: 18 percent of Japan’s air service is international

Montana (376,990 km2/145,556 mi2)
Population: 967,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 14
Largest airport: Billings (BIL) – 24 percent of Montana’s total flights
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 96
Number of airlines serving Montana: 6
Largest airline: Delta – 26 percent of Montana’s total flights
Domestic service: All of Montana’s air service is domestic; of the domestic service, 24 percent is intra-Montana; the remaining 76 percent is to other destinations in the U.S.
International service: Montana does not have any international air service

Germany (357,022 km2/137,847 mi2)
Population: 82,100,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 33
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 2,613
Largest airport: Frankfurt (FRA) – 23 percent of Germany’s total flights
Number of airlines serving Germany: 146
Largest airline: Lufthansa – 44 percent of Germany’s total flights
Domestic service: 30 percent of Germany’s air service is domestic
International service: 70 percent of Germany’s air service is international

Democratic Republic of Congo (342,000 km2/132,000 mi2)
Population: 66,000,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 11
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 19
Largest airport: Kinshasa (FIH) – 47 percent of DR Congo’s total flights
Number of airlines serving DR Congo: 7
Largest airline: Hewa Bora Airways – 42 percent of DR Congo’s total flights
Domestic service: 46 percent of DR Congo’s air service is domestic
International service: 54 percent of DR Congo’s air service is international

Finland (338,145 km2/130,559 mi2)
Population: 5,300,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 22
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 314
Largest airport: Helsinki (HEL) – 69 percent of Finland’s total flights
Number of airlines serving Finland: 7
Largest airline: Finnair – 45 percent of Finland’s total flights
Domestic service: 49 percent of Finland’s air service is domestic
International service: 51 percent of Finland’s air service is international

Vietnam (331,689 km2/128,066 mi2)
Population: 88,100,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 21
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 265
Largest airport: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) –46 percent of Vietnam’s total flights
Number of airlines serving Vietnam: 45
Largest airline: Vietnam Airlines – 59 percent of Vietnam’s total flights
Domestic service: 41 percent of Vietnam’s air service is domestic
International service: 59 percent of Vietnam’s air service is international

Malaysia (329,847 km2/127,355 mi2)
Population: 28,200,000
Number of airports with scheduled commercial air service: 34
Daily flight departures (from all airports with scheduled commercial air service): 706
Largest airport: Kuala Lumpur (KUL) – 43 percent of Malaysia’s total flights
Number of airlines serving Malaysia: 58
Largest airline: Malaysia Airlines – 44 percent of Malaysia’s total flights
Domestic service: 66 percent of Malaysia’s air service is domestic
International service: 33 percent of Malaysia’s air service is international

Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) Schedule Tapes; data for May 2009 only, unless otherwise noted; rankings based on flight departures; daily numbers are an average for May 2009.

Original article by Laura Jackson