Global airline capacity is set to reach a robust 529 million seats this October, marking a significant 3.9% increase year-on-year and placing total capacity 20 million seats ahead of October 2024 figures, according to OAG.
OAG noted that this growth rate surpasses last month’s capacity increase of 2.4%, signaling sustained strength in the global air travel market, according to the latest data analysis.
North American carriers are leading the recovery through aggressive frequency expansion. Among the Top 20 global airlines, United Airlines added the most extra frequencies this month, with 7,000 more services compared to last October, closely followed by Delta Air Lines with 6,800 new frequencies.
In terms of percentage growth, Turkish Airlines exhibited the fastest expansion rate, increasing its flight count by 14.9% and adding 4,900 flights for a total of 37,600 flights in October. However, not all carriers shared in the growth; Lufthansa recorded a 5.0% reduction in capacity, and Brazilian carrier Azul saw the largest rate of decline at 10.0%.
The USA continues to dominate the domestic market landscape, offering 92.1 million seats, which is 19.5 million more than the second-largest market, China (72.5 million).
However, China recorded the highest year-on-year volume growth among the Top 10 domestic markets, adding 2.7 million seats since the previous October. Strong growth rates (above 5%) were also observed in Brazil (+6.5%) and Canada (+5.1%). Conversely, the domestic markets in Indonesia and Japan continued to contract, with Indonesia experiencing a 6.3% decline in seat capacity.
Capacity trends varied significantly across global regions:
Regional Growth Champion: Southern Africa is poised to record the strongest growth among IATA regions, increasing capacity by a projected 12.5% year-on-year.
Volume Leaders: North East Asia and Western Europe led the volume increase, both adding an impressive 4.6 million seats compared to October 2024.
Regional Declines: Capacity declined in two regions: the Caribbean saw a marginal decrease of 0.4%, while Upper South America experienced the most significant contraction, down 1.4% on last year.
