New data released today by OAG, the world’s leading data platform for the global travel industry, reveals that global airline capacity is projected to reach 507.6 million seats this month. This represents a significant surge of 26 million seats compared to last month and a 4.7% increase over the same period in 2024.
The report highlights a robust end to the year for the aviation sector, supported by 720 airlines operating across 3,915 airports worldwide.
American Airlines maintains its position as the world’s largest carrier by frequency, with 190,285 flights scheduled for December. This marks an increase of 7,828 flights over December 2024—the highest growth in frequency among the world’s top 20 airlines.
While American Airlines leads in volume, several international carriers are seeing double-digit growth compared to last year:
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China Southern Airlines: +12.3%
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Air China: +10.6%
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Turkish Airlines: +10.0%
Conversely, some major carriers have scaled back operations. Lufthansa saw the most significant contraction at -7.3%, followed by Japan Airlines (-1.5%), JetBlue (-1.2%), and All Nippon Airways (-0.7%).
The United States continues to dominate the domestic landscape with 88.2 million seats, maintaining a lead of 19.5 million seats over second-place China (68.7 million seats). However, China is narrowing the gap, recording the largest year-on-year seat increase of any top 10 market, adding 4.5 million seats since December 2024.
Key Regional Highlights:
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Mexico – USA: Remains the world’s largest international country pair with 5.1 million seats.
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Growth Leaders: Mexico’s domestic market recorded the highest growth rate at 11.0% year-on-year.
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Market Declines: Domestic capacity fell in Indonesia (-5.6%) and Japan (-2.7%).
