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COVID-19: Additional seat capacity returning, slowly
Northeast Asia showing ‘some’ recovery OAG says with China and Hong Kong leading the way
Commercial passenger air traffic is growing, slightly, in some parts of the world with Asia leading the way, according to traffic analyser OAG. The company said aviation is seeing “modest capacity growth at the global level” with a 2 percent increase in weekly capacity with 29.8 million scheduled seats this week, “representing a small but very important 600,000 more than the previous week”. Total capacity is now at 29.9 million seats; some 80 million fewer seats than operated in the same week last year which highlights how far the global market has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, OAG said. (Chart courtesy of OAG) The company said forward-looking capacity suggested that some 32.3 million seats would be operated this week, but fell back by 8 percent as airlines adjusted their schedules. The forward looking capacity for next week now stands at 42.3 million, although OAG said breaking the 30 million mark next week might be possible, “42 million would be a step too far”. In Asia the growth is being driven by China where 1 million domestic seats were added back this week. Hong Kong was another market to report some positive news with Cathay Pacific adding back some 40,000 seats and growing frequency by some 120 flights over the seven days. The top 10 country market table continues to combine a mix of the regular candidates with some traditionally smaller countries where capacity has been maintained or some signs of recovery are underway, OAG said. China continues to rank number one ahead of the United States operating twice as many seats. Vietnam was in 19th position 17 weeks ago and the Philippines in 23rd place. The absence of any Western European country in the top 10 global markets illustrates how damaging COVID-19 has been with the United Kingdom (now 13th), Germany (now 15th) and Spain now 23rd just as the traditional summer season begins to build. Download the latest issue of Asian Aviation here. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]
TAGSChinaCOVID-19OAGpandemicpassenger traffic
Matt Driskillhttp://www.matt-driskill.com
Matt Driskill is the Editor of Asian Aviation. He has been an Asia-based journalist and content producer since 1990 for outlets including Reuters and the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. He appears on international broadcast outlets like Al Jazeera, CNA and the BBC and has taught journalism at Hong Kong University and American University of Paris. In 2022 Driskill received the “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Aerospace Media Awards Asia organisation for his editorials and in 2024 received a “Special Recognition for Editorial Perspectives” award from the same organisation. Driskill has received awards from the Associated Press for Investigative Reporting and Business Writing and in 1989 was named the John J. McCloy Fellow by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York where he earned his Master's Degree.
马特·德里斯基尔（Matt Driskill）是《亚洲航空》（Asian Aviation）的主编。他自1990年起，担任驻亚洲的记者和内容制作人，曾为路透社、国际先驱论坛报/纽约时报等媒体工作，并曾任香港外国记者协会会长。他也曾多次在半岛电视台、新加坡广播公司（CNA）和BBC等国际媒体担任嘉宾，并在香港大学和巴黎美国大学教授新闻学。2022年，德里斯基尔因其评论获得了航空媒体奖（Aerospace Media Awards Asia）颁发的“杰出成就奖”，2024年又因其编辑观点获得同一组织颁发的“特别表彰”。他曾获得美联社的调查报道和商务写作奖，并于1989年被纽约哥伦比亚大学研究生新闻学院授予约翰·J·麦克劳伊学者（John J. McCloy Fellow）称号，获得硕士学位。