Worldwide flight schedules nearly 5% down
Scheduled airlines have cut flights by 4.9% this month, compared with March 2008.
This equates to a 3.3% drop in seat capacity, according to the latest statistics from OAG.
It is the eighth successive month that schedules have been reduced and represents a reduction of more than 122,000 flights and 9.8 million seats year on year.
The total number of flights scheduled to operate worldwide this month is 2.38 million, or 289.8 million seats.
Global airline schedules for the first quarter 2009 have dropped by 6.7%, or 491,000 fewer flights.
It is the first time quarter 1 figures have dropped since 2002, when the industry was absorbing the double impact of 9/11 terrorist and an economic meltdown from the burst of the dot.com bubble.
Capacity for this quarter also has fallen by 4.4%, representing a reduction of 38.6 million seats.
Within the US this month, domestic airline flight activity has dropped 9.2% overall, or 76,164 fewer flights, resulting in 6.5 million fewer seats.
The US low-cost sector is showing a year-on-year decrease for the month of just over 9% for both frequencies and capacity.
David Beckerman, VP market intelligence at OAG, said: "The OAG figures for March reveal a continuing slowdown in the global figures and on the key long-haul routes between North America and hubs in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
“Asia is holding up much better with a marginal decline in frequencies and slight growth in intra-regional capacity, while the Middle East is bucking the global trend with comparatively healthy growth, especially for international operations.
“Europe continues to see sharp cutbacks on routes to, from and within the region, while Africa remains fairly stable compared with this time last year."
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements