Monday, September 06, 2010

Airline Seating Capacity Trending Upward


[Airline seating capacity within North America]

Airlines have been patting themselves on the back for their supposed discipline in keeping supply down while demand inches up -- all the better to jack up fares.

But in fact, seating capacity is trending upward. According to the air-travel data company OAG, in August, capacity within North America grew for the first time since 2007. The total number of seats available: 79.9 million, an increase of 617,870 or 1%, over that in August 2009; there will be 885,078 flights, or an increase of 1% or 6,084.

Meanwhile, with growth in Asia-Pacific markets and elsewhere overseas, global seating capacity was up 7 percent, and the number of flights increased 6 percent in August.

Here's the OAG list of the top world airports in terms of seat capacity in August:

Airports Ranked by Seats Seat Capacity
1. Atlanta Hartsfield (ATL) 9,528,836
2. Beijing (PEK) 8,463,305
3. London Heathrow (LHR) 8,188,598
4. Chicago O Hare (ORD) 7,564,308
5. Tokyo Haneda (HND) 7,581,648
6. Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) 6,743,636
7. Los Angeles (LAX) 6,662,856
8. Frankfurt (FRA) 6,522,171
9. Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) 6,084,870
10. Madrid (MAD) 5,759,170
11. Denver (DEN) 5,754,315
12. Hong Kong (HKG) 5,655,500
13. New York (JFK) 5,545,756
14. Dubai (DXB) 5,384,651
15. Bangkok (BKK) 4,984,655
16. Singapore Changi (SIN) 4,890,873
17. Amsterdam (AMS) 4,906,948
18. Guangzhou (CAN) 4,653,663
19. Rome (FCO) 4,507,675
20. Shanghai (PVG) 4,551,871

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