A new analysis of global airline data from OAG reveals a complex landscape for the aviation industry in September. While some airlines and regions are experiencing significant growth, others are seeing notable declines, reflecting a mixed recovery and shifting market dynamics.
Airline Performance: Growth and Contraction
United Airlines leads the pack, showing the most significant increase in flight frequency among the top 20 airlines, adding 6,900 more frequencies compared to September 2024. Delta Air Lines follows closely with an additional 5,500 frequencies. This growth highlights a continued push by major U.S. carriers to expand their operations.
On the other hand, the data shows some airlines are pulling back. IndiGo, which previously showed strong growth, has reduced its flying by 0.5% compared to last year. This marks a notable shift from its performance in the first half of the year.
The fastest-growing airline is Turkish Airlines, which has increased its capacity by an impressive 7.9%. In contrast, Azul Airlines saw the most significant reduction, with its capacity down by 9.2%.
Regional and Domestic Market Shifts
Globally, passenger capacity is expected to reach 515.1 million seats this month, a decrease from the peak of 559 million seats in July but still a modest 2.4% year-on-year increase.
The data also reveals varied performance across key domestic markets:
Indonesia continues to experience the biggest decline, with a 12.2% drop in capacity.
The USA, Japan, and India also saw their domestic capacity contract.
Türkiye’s domestic market stands out with strong growth, up 16.2% with an additional 740,000 seats.
Other markets with notable growth above 5% include Canada, Australia, and Brazil.
From a regional perspective, Central Asia continues its strong growth trend, leading all IATA regions with a 12.1% increase. All four African regions are also showing positive growth, with Southern Africa leading the continent at 10.3%.
Conversely, several regions are facing declines:
North America is down 0.4%.
Upper South America is down 2.7%.
The Caribbean shows the most significant decrease, down 3.4%.
This data underscores a dynamic and uneven global aviation market as it navigates seasonal changes and ongoing recovery efforts.
