The United Kingdom this month recorded a severe cutback in scheduled airline service, with a 9 percent decline in international capacity and a 14 percent decline in domestic capacity, compared with the same period last year, according to OAG data released this week.
OAG in its report noted, "The last time the April figures for the U.K. were lower than this was in 2001." Declines in the U.K. market are outpacing the global airline industry, which is experiencing capacity reductions amid stunted demand for air travel.
"On a global scale, the world's airlines have scheduled 6 percent fewer flights for April 2009 compared with the same month last year, with a 3 percent drop in seat capacity," OAG reported.
OAG vice president of market intelligence David Beckerman said, "The sharp drop in U.K. flights compared to last year reflects the fact the U.K. has been particularly hit by recessionary effects."
OAG reported that capacity within Europe is down nearly 7 percent compared with April 2008, while international capacity to and from Europe is "holding up much better," declining by 1.7 percent. Those modest declines in international capacity largely are the result of continued service growth between Europe and the Middle East, up 15 percent, and continued capacity additions between Europe and Africa, up nearly 5 percent.
Meanwhile, OAG reported a "significant reduction on routes between North America and Western Europe," which registered a 9 percent decline in frequencies and a 7.4 percent decline in capacity.
According to OAG data from December 2008, the transatlantic air travel market in the first quarter of 2009 lost nearly 384,717 seats, nearly 5 percent less capacity than in the same period this year, according to OAG data. The reduction was surprising, given that new capacity and service flooded the market in the second quarter of 2008, following the enactment of the Open Skies agreement that aimed to grow business between the United States and Europe.
In April 2008, scheduled flights from Europe to the United States grew from 2007 levels by nearly 10 percent, more than half of which involved London's newly unrestricted Heathrow Airport, which many carriers made the focal point of new service
(BTNonline, April 28, 2008).