Total global air capacity changed little this week compared with last week, as reductions in Asia offset capacity added back to the Western European and North American markets, according to OAG.
Airlines around the world have 39.91 million seats scheduled this week, down 0.1 percent from the 39.96 million seats last week. In Western Europe, airlines added more than 700,000 seats, up 18.2 percent week over week, and North American airlines added about 600,000 seats, up 7.5 percent week over week. U.S. capacity is up 7 percent week over week, and domestic U.S. travel "has been growing strongly" in recent weeks, according to OAG.
In Northeast Asia, however, carriers cut about a million seats, down 6.3 percent week over week. About half of that came from capacity cuts in Beijing amid a reported spike of Covid-19 cases in the Chinese capital, according to OAG.
Capacity also was down in India and Indonesia, an indication that "pent-up demand for travel during lockdowns has now settled, and the airlines have accordingly been adjusting capacity to meet those new demand levels," according to OAG analyst John Grant.