Almost 60 million fewer airline seats will be put on sale around the globe in the final quarter of 2008, the Official Airline Guide (OAG website: www.oag.com) has said.
Resulting in an overall seven per cent reduction in global aviation capacity, the company said concerns over rising oil prices had prompted many carriers to cut back routes.
It said the situation is so severe that it is expected to overtake the fallout from the September 11 attacks, when capacity fell by five per cent and took three years to recover.
Among the worst-hit areas is the US domestic market – expected to absorb around one third of all the cuts – while Asia will also feel the pinch, with capacity declining by 13 per cent.
Steve Casley, OAG chief operating officer, said the figures marked the end of steady growth in the industry since 2002, adding: “It looks quite possible that we may be facing a far more severe global downturn than we have experienced before.”
Also this week, the International Air Transport Association revealed that growth in demand for air travel has dropped to its lowest rate since the Sars outbreak in 2002.
