AIRLINE FREQUENCY AND CAPACITY STATISTICS

AIR TRAVEL DATA FROM THE EXPERTS

Which is the biggest airline in the world? Which country pairs have most capacity this month? How many flights are there per day, worldwide and what are the latest airline statistics? And how many airlines and airports are in operation? Our Airline Frequency and Capacity Statistics answer all these questions and more with key facts and figures about air travel and global capacity, using flight data from OAG's Schedules Analyser; a cutting-edge platform for airline schedule analysis. 

 

Key Points From August's Airline Frequency and Capacity Data:

  • Global capacity reached 555.2M seats in August, up 2.6% YoY, with growth strongest in Central Asia and Southern Africa.
  • Airline passenger numbers remain high, with Canada, Brazil and Australia seeing notable domestic market gains.
  • Domestic air capacity trends show declines in Indonesia, the US, and Japan, while the UK-Spain route remains the busiest international pair.
  • Major carriers like American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta lead on capacity, despite varied performance across regions.

SCHEDULED FLIGHT COUNTER

FLIGHTS IN THE SCHEDULE 30TH DECEMBER 2024 - 31ST August 2025

Our flight frequency counter shows the number of (one-way) flights in the schedule from Monday 30th December 2024* to the end of the current week.

With 25,645,125 flights in total to the end of this week, the average number of commercial flights per day is 104,673.

 

*The 'year' runs from Monday 30th December 2024 when week one of the schedule starts.

 

WEEKLY AIRLINE CAPACITY DATA

 

HOW MUCH AIRLINE CAPACITY IS SCHEDULED THIS WEEK?

This chart shows the most recent weekly global (domestic + international) , domestic and international airline capacity. The dotted line represents capacity in the airlines' future schedules for the next 11 weeks, helping you monitor changes in worldwide airline capacity. 

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AIRLINE AND AIRPORT COUNT | AUGUST 2025

 

hOW MANY AIRLINES ARE THERE IN THE WORLD?

  • In August 2025 there are 725 airlines operating worldwide.
  • There are currently 3,939 airports in operation.

 

TOP TWENTY AIRLINES | AUGUST 2025

 

WHICH IS THE Biggest AIRLINE IN THE WORLD THIS MONTH?

  • Most of the world’s top twenty airlines are seeing growth this month, with some notable exceptions, according to the latest global airline industry statistics.
  • Southwest has cut frequency this month again, down 3.2% against a backdrop of the other US majors who are all adding frequency - although American Airlines' increase is fairly small, just 0.3% this month compared to August 2024. IndiGo is also trimming back this month, down by 1.9%.
  • Turkish Airlines continues to see strong growth, up 8.3% year-on-year, while LATAM Airlines Group has increased by 6.3%.

 

DOMESTIC MARKETS | AUGUST 2025

 

WHERE IS MOST DOMESTIC CAPACITY THIS MONTH?

  • There is mixed performance amongst the world's largest domestic markets this month. Indonesia sees the biggest fall, down 12.7% year-over-year, with India, Japan, and the USA also seeing a contraction in capacity.
  • Strong growth continues in Canada, up 7.5%, perhaps as more Canadians take vacations at home, and in Brazil, where the domestic market is up by 3.9%. Australia is also experiencing an uptick in domestic capacity, with a 3.6% year-over-year increase.

 

TOP TWENTY COUNTRY PAIRS FOR TRAVEL | AUGUST 2025

 

WHICH TWO COUNTRIES VISIT EACH OTHER MOST?

  • Overall, the Top 20 busiest country pairs are growing at an average rate of 6.5% annually. At the top spot is Spain-UK, which continues to see steady growth at 6.1% year on year.
  • Some markets are way ahead of this average - notably country pairs involving Japan, where double-digit growth is taking place. A notable example is China-Japan which has seen a surge in air travel, with capacity nearly 40% higher than last August. 
  • However, some markets are declining, continuing the trend of recent months. Canada-USA is down by 4.4%, UK-USA is down by 1.5% and Germany-Spain is down 1%. There is also a considerable reduction in the once strong Russian-Turkiye market which is down by 9.5%.

 

AIRLINE CAPACITY BY REGION | AUGUST 2025

 

WHICH WORLD REGION HAS MOST FLIGHT CAPACITY?

  • Having peaked last month, global capacity is now slightly lower this month, at 555.2m seats. Capacity growth year on year has slowed down to 2.6% ahead of last year against the recent trend of 3% growth year on year.
  • Central Asia continues to record very strong growth compared to last year, up 22.2%. Across Africa, capacity growth is strong, with Southern Africa leading the way at 9.4% ahead of August 2024.
  • Meanwhile, capacity growth has stalled in South Asia, with a small reduction of 0.7% this August compared to last year, and also in North America, where there is an increase of just 0.1% on last year.

CAN AI AND THE RIGHT DATA REWRITE THE RULES OF AIRLINE PERFORMANCE?  

FAQs ABOUT AIRLINE FREQUENCY AND CAPACITY STATS 

 

Where are the Frequency and Capacity statistics sourced from?

All data is sourced from OAG  Schedules and is for the current month and previous months stated per chart. This global airline industry data is unadjusted for the leap year effect. 

How are the frequency and capacity categories on this page defined?
  1. The scheduled flight counter shows the number of flights in the schedule from the first day of the year up until the end of the current week.
  2. Weekly airline capacity shows total global (international + domestic) capacity, international capacity and domestic capacity, measured in seats. It is plotted weekly with a forward view of filed scheduled capacity for the 11 weeks ahead, showing the overall 3 months forward-looking position.
  3. Top 20 Airlines are the 20 largest global airlines by flights based on the current month.
  4. Top 20 Country Pairs are those international country pairs with most seat capacity based on the current month.
  5. Domestic Markets are the 10 largest markets by seats.
  6. Seats by Region is seat capacity for the current month to, from and within each global sub region.

What is airline frequency and why does it matter?

Airline frequency is the number of flights scheduled on a route over a set period. It plays a key role in meeting passenger demand and improving travel convenience. OAG’s air travel statistics show how frequency patterns shift with market trends.

What is airline capacity?

Airline capacity is the number of seats an airline makes available for sale. They will adjust this over time based on demand and trends in the aviation industry.

How does airline capacity differ from passenger numbers?

The exact number of passengers flying will differ from the number of seats available, though we can assume an average load factor (how many seats are filled) of around 83%, although this will be higher for Low Cost Carriers who tend to operate with an average load factor of 90%. Capacity data and passenger numbers will tend to follow the same trend.

What factors influence frequency and capacity planning?

Airlines consider global aviation growth, market demand, route distance, airport slot restrictions, and more to decide how often aircraft should operate, and what size of aircraft to operate on routes.

 How do seasonal trends impact airline frequency and capacity?

Seasonal demand surges, such as holidays, or major events can cause spikes in planned airline capacity, while in off-peak periods airlines may reduce both capacity and frequency. 

 

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