Global Airline and Airport winners and losers for 2005 vs 2004

Latest information provided by OAG shows an overall increase in frequency and capacity of 3 and 5 per cent respectively for the airline industry. This represents an additional 920,000+ flights and just under 146 million seats respectively.

A 2005 vs 2004 year-on-year comparison revealed the biggest gains and losses in the global aviation industry.

Airlines
Leading the way in the volume of additional flights in 2005 was Continental Airlines with a growth of just over 63,000. SAS Scandinavian Airlines, (primarily due to the acquisition of Braathens), along with Hainan Airlines, Tam Linhas Aereas and Southwest Airlines, were the carriers that planned the highest number of additional flights in 2005 after Continental.

Four of the top ten airlines with the highest number of additional seats in 2005 were low-cost carriers. In addition to Ryanair, Southwest and easyJet, Jetstar Airways also joined this elite group.

Inevitably there were some notable losses in the industry. In addition to Braathens, ATA Airlines, Japan Air System, Vasp and Volare Airlines, that either experienced a significant reduction in their flights or ceased operations, United Airlines was the largest North American carrier with the highest reduction in the number of planned additional seats for 2005.

Source: OAG Worldwide database, January 2006

Low-cost carriers
Southwest Airlines topped the frequency table with more than 46,700 new flights, followed by Independence Air, which ironically ceased operations in January 2006. In Europe, Ryanair and easyJet remained the two leading low-cost airlines, each adding more than 30,000 flights compared to 2004.

A different pattern emerged for the low-cost capacity results. Ranked at the top of the group was Ryanair, adding more than 8 million seats in 2005.

Not surprisingly, ATA Airlines was positioned at the bottom of the table having significantly reduced available flights and capacity in 2005, along with Volareweb.com, and Jetsgo that ceased operations last year.

Source: OAG Worldwide database, January 2006

Airports
Philadelphia International Airport, Charlotte and Houston International were the three airports with the highest number of additional flights throughout 2005, each with more than 50,000 additional flights. Three other North American airports also experienced the greatest decline in the volume of operating flights; Dallas/Forth Worth, Pittsburgh and Chicago Midway, with each showing a decline of more than 48,000 flights.

Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport, was the leading airport in the world in terms of additional seat capacity in 2005. This was primarily due to the additional number of seats offered by domestic Indonesian carriers. Jakarta was closely followed by Beijing Capital Airport achieving a significant growth in 2005. Worldwide Airlines contributed to this success, offering more than 6.2 million seats to and from this airport last year. It is interesting to note that six of the top ten airports with the largest volume of additional seats in 2005 were either in Asia Pacific or China.

In line with the frequency trend, the airports that experienced the highest decline in the number of available seats were Pittsburgh, Chicago O’Hare and Dallas/Fort Worth, each with a reduced capacity of more 4 million seats in 2005.

Source: OAG Worldwide database, January 2006

The OAG database is the only industry source that provides a clear view of past, present and future schedules for more than 1,000 airlines and 3,500 airports worldwide.