Global airline capacity is reaching new highs, with a forecast of 507.6 million seats for December 2025, marking a significant 4.7% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the latest industry data from OAG. This growth adds an extra 22.8 million seats to the global market year-on-year.
American Airlines retains its title as the world’s largest airline by flight frequency, scheduling a total of 190,285 flights this month. This represents the largest volume increase among the Top 20 carriers, adding 7,828 more flights than in December 2024.
-
Strong Frequency Growth: Three airlines are reporting a year-on-year increase in flight frequency exceeding 10%:
-
China Southern Airlines: Up 12.3%
-
Air China: Up 10.6%
-
Turkish Airlines: Up 10.0%
-
-
Domestic Market Dominance and Growth: The USA remains the world’s largest domestic market with 88.2 million seats.
-
However, China is poised for the largest volume increase in seat capacity among the Top 10 domestic markets, adding 4.5 million seats compared to December 2024.
-
-
Highest Growth Rate by Country: Mexico leads all countries in growth rate, with seats up a remarkable 11.0% year-on-year.
-
Largest International Route: The Mexico – USA country pair remains the largest international market, accounting for 5.1 million seats.
Growth is concentrated in specific regions, while others face declines:
-
Volume Leaders: The two regions showing the largest volume growth in flight capacity compared to last year are:
-
North East Asia: Up by 6.2 million seats
-
Western Europe: Up by 3.8 million seats
-
-
Strongest Growth Rate: Central America is set to record the strongest growth rate amongst the IATA regions, increasing capacity by 9.0% year-on-year.
-
Regional Decline: Out of 17 IATA regions, the Caribbean is the only one seeing a capacity reduction, down 1.5% from last year.
Four major airlines are operating fewer flights this month compared to December 2024: Lufthansa (-7.3%), Japan Airlines (-1.5%), JetBlue (-1.2%), and All Nippon Airways (-0.7%). Additionally, two domestic markets are seeing a year-on-year decline in capacity: Japan (-2.7%) and Indonesia (-5.6%).
