Figures show growth in summer airline capacity

Total global airline capacity is set to rise slightly over the course of August, newly-released figures from the aviation industry show.

According to a new report from the aviation data compiler OAG, the world's airlines are set to make available a collective 314.2 million seats over the course of August.

This will stand as a slight rise on the total recorded for August 2008 and therefore represents the first month of positive growth for more than a year, indicating that the negative effects of the current economic downturn are starting to ease.

Commenting on the figures, David Beckerman, vice president OAG Market Intelligence, said: "After a year of capacity cutbacks, it is encouraging to see positive numbers in the year on year comparisons.

"August is traditionally one of the busiest months for air travel, and it will be interesting to see if the steady upward trend we have seen since May continues once the summer vacation season draws to a close."

These figures come shortly after BAA reported that it expects to see a rise in the number of passengers making use of Heathrow Airport over the summer, with this also set to represent the first such increase in three years.

Posted by Andrea, 18 August 2009 17:29

News tags