BREAKING NEWS is a report by OAG, the global data company, published today (11 April) , that budget airlines now account for 12% of all scheduled flight operations and 15% of all available seats. In other words low cost operators are providing one in eight of the world's scheduled flights. The statistics provided by OAG are impressive. Predictably, the biggest year-on-year growth is in China. Compared with April 2004, the current month will see a 12% growth in flights to and from China, and a massive 20% increase in domestic sectors. Worldwide, the growth figure is 5%. This is in spite of rising oil prices and is backed up by similar figures published by the World Travel and Tourism Council at its summit in Delhi just concluded. OAG also notes that it is tracking a staggering 160 potential start up airlines.
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