The winter season is nearly upon us and we are doing our best to shake off the shivers. In the last week of IATA’s summer season, we explore what’s happening with airline capacity around the world.
Global Airline Capacity Continues to Fluctuate
It wasn’t so long ago that weekly capacity had reached above 100m seats, but it seems that goal is now firmly out of reach as we move towards the IATA winter season for scheduled carriers.
Airline capacity this week is sitting at 93.6m, a reduction of 0.5% from last week. When we compare this week to the peak of 102.5m seats in mid-August, seats have fallen by 9%. Seasonal fluctuation is the norm at this time of year and back in 2019 the same week saw 10% fewer seats than the August peak, so arguably, the position is a little better here now than 2019! Starting off with a positive – let’s see what other good news there is…
What really stands out this week is just how close North America is to 2019 levels, just 2% behind and Western Europe is even closer, just 0.9% behind the same week in 2019 meaning we could really declare that they are recovered. However, these regions are not quite at the levels of growth being recorded in Central Asia, and parts of Latin America, but progress all the same - and this might finally allow us to begin to look forward to what might come, rather than continue to look back.
North East Asian capacity is another high spot, up 2.1% this week compared to last, although still lingering at nearly one-third below 2019 levels. South East Asia remains similarly behind 2019 with a very small uplift week-on-week, but it is Southern Africa this week that has the dubious honour of being furthest away from its 2019 comparison – although John Grant is doing his best to reverse that trend, as he’s off holidaying there this week.
Capacity in the Biggest Countries Begins to Level Off
We are starting to see more stability now in seat capacity across the largest countries. China has seen the largest increase, of 2.9% this week, a fairly small increase in the context of recent changes, equivalent to 320,000 more seats. Capacity in China is now 28.8% behind the same week in 2019, making China second only to Indonesia in this group in terms of recovery against 2019. The United States has seen capacity fall week-on-week, with 209,000 seats removed as carriers prepare for the winter season. Most European markets are seeing capacity trimmed this week (despite this being a week where many European countries have half-term school holidays) with the UK, Germany and Italy all seeing capacity drop by 2-3% on last week.
Some Ups and Downs: Airline Capacity Fluctuations
Looking at the world’s biggest carriers of course mirrors these trends.
In China, there’s also a mixed story. China Eastern and China Southern are cutting back, with the bulk of the reductions coming from China Southern who are down 192,000 seats this week, whilst Air China is adding capacity, with an additional 42,000 seats. Of the Chinese majors, China Eastern is most recovered with seats just 23.2% behind the same week in 2019. China Southern is furthest behind, with seats 44.9% below 2019.
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