OAG, the provider of flight schedule information, has come up with some interesting figures for December. Worldwide flight levels are up 1% with over 3,000 additional flights added to the schedules. To and from the UK, flights are increased 3% but UK domestic flight levels are down -5%. The figures are part of the OAG Quarterly Reports on global airline schedules. Worldwide, the number of scheduled flights is fairly stable, with a 1% growth recorded year on year. Flights to and from the UK have risen slightly on 2002 levels ” up 3%. However, British domestic flights have seen a significant drop of -5%, over 400 flights. The largest recorded growth is within China ” up a very healthy 18%. With the exception of Heathrow, key European hubs show decline in flight levels. Flights to and from Heathrow are up 1% on December 2002 but Gatwick shows a decrease of -6% year on year. However, the figures reveal a 6% increase in number of seats available out of Gatwick, suggesting that airlines are flying fewer but larger planes.
http://www.oag.com