Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) are still the main drivers of aviation growth according to a new figures from OAG
These reveal that capacity on no frills carriers has doubled in the last four years from 22,000,000 seats on 169,000 flights in September 2002 to 46,000,000 seats on 323,000 flights this September.
While world air transport grew by 2% last year, the volume of low cost flights worldwide grew by 14%.
OAG said LLCs now accounted for 17% of all seat sales and 15% of all flights across the world.
It said that about 18% of the flights in Europe and the US were now by LCCs.
OAG said Europe was continuing its "upward trend" with an increase of 15,000 flights year on year, a rise of 18%. Of these 11,000 were by EU countries.
But while there was a slight drop in the number of flights – 1,800 representing 1% - the US domestic market was still by far the busiest.
In Asia Pacific and the Middle East the number of low cost flights soared.
The first region saw a year on year rise of 63% with a additional 17,000 flights and 2,000,000 seats.
In the second region, there was a 77% increase in flights although the numbers are still small compared other regions.
China, also from a tiny base, saw a 4,000% rise - 2,000 flights - in the number of low cost flights.
Duncan Alexander, managing director of business development at OAG, said: "We can only speculate on the future impact China and India will have on the low cost sector.
"From a tiny base of just 48 low cost flights within China this time last year, the jump to more than 2,000 is remarkable.
"Equally impressive is India's fledgling market which has leapt from 600 flights and 28,000 seats in September 2004 to more than 12,000 flights and more than 1.1 million seats in just two years."
OAG, which monitors about 1,000 airlines on a daily basis, prepared the figures for the forthcoming Routes Development Forum in Dubai and the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in London.