Fewer seats in 2009
Nearly 400,000 seats will be dropped from the transatlantic air market in the first three months of 2009, according to aviation analysts OAG.
The figure amounts to a drop of around 5% compared with the same period on 2008.
The fall is despite the arrival of the Open Skies agreement between the US and the EU which came into force at the end of March this year.
This deal led to an increase in new flights, many from London Heathrow Airport which was opened up as part of the Open Skies deal.
But soaring fuel prices combined with the economic downturn and a fall in demand seems to have hit the air market badly.
Two all business class transatlantic operators, the US-owned Eos Airlines and the British Silverjet went out of business in 2008.
Zoom, a Canadian carrier which ran flights from Canada and the US to Europe, also folded August.
Some of the new flights, including Northwest Airlines' Seattle to Heathrow and Air France KLM's Los Angeles to Heathrow, were also withdrawn.
www.oag.com