Global airline capacity expanded by 1.5% year-on-year in July 2026, driven by substantial seat additions across Europe and North East Asia alongside strong growth in emerging markets, according to the latest data from aviation intelligence platform OAG.
While global trends remain upward, regional performance continues to diverge sharply. Central/Western Africa recorded the fastest growth rate by region, surging 16.9% to 3.3 million seats, followed by North Africa (+8.0%) and Eastern/Central Europe (+6.8%).
In absolute terms, Europe added 6 million seats and North East Asia added 3.4 million seats year-on-year. Conversely, five global regions experienced contractions, led by the Middle East (−7.0%), the Caribbean (−4.2%), South Asia (−3.7%), South East Asia (−1.4%), and North America (−0.3%).
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Alaska Airlines Leads Frequency Growth: Following its recent integration of Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines posted a 19.4% year-on-year increase in flight frequencies, leading growth among major carriers.
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European Expansion: Low-cost giants and network carriers sustained European momentum, with Ryanair capacity up 6.2% year-on-year, easyJet growing 2.1%, and Turkish Airlines adding 1.5%.
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Major Reductions: Among the top 20 airlines, three carriers saw significant capacity cuts: Deutsche Lufthansa AG (−9.9%), All Nippon Airways (−5.5%), and IndiGo (−3.9%).
Capacity metrics indicate early signs of stabilization in the Middle East. While Emirates and Qatar Airways reduced seat capacity between 6% and 7% year-on-year in July, these declines mark a clear improvement from the 15–16% drops recorded in June.
Demonstrating strong performance in Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs):
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Etihad Airways grew ASKs by 15.5% year-on-year.
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Air China and LATAM Airlines Group recorded strong ASK gains of 11.0% and 10.9%, respectively.
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Outside of Emirates and Qatar Airways, international ASK reductions were limited to United Airlines (−1.5%) and Delta Air Lines (−0.2%).
Performance across the world’s largest domestic aviation markets remains mixed:
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China Rebounds: The Chinese domestic market led total seat growth, adding 3.69 million seats (+4.7%) year-on-year—a sharp recovery from last month’s flat growth (+0.5%).
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Fastest Domestic Growth: Mexico led in percentage growth (+7.2%), followed closely by Türkiye (+7.1%).
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Contractions: Domestic markets in the USA, Japan, Australia, and India all contracted. India registered the steepest decline, down 4.6% year-on-year.
