As more countries lift the restrictions triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, air travel is receiving a boost.
The global capacity figures for scheduled seats by airlines have hit 91.5 million weekly, data from worldwide industry data bank has shown.
Collated by ch-aviation, the global database for airlines, airports and the air transport value chain, it stated that scheduled seats by global carriers increased by 46 per cent as at the end of March, this year, compared to the same week last year.
The data indicates that the figures for scheduled seats went up by 85 per cent compared with figures of 2020.
According to the data, Africa’s capacity has been increasing, with 2.7 million weekly scheduled seats.
It stated that Africa recorded a 62 per cent increase in figures and a significant spike netting over 125 per cent figures compared with March 2020.
The ch-aviation report reads “Asia saw a considerable rise in demand at the end of March, with 35.4 million weekly scheduled seats.
This is the continent’s highest peak since the COVID-19 outbreak, representing a 14 per cent increase over March 2021 and a 67 per cent increase compared to the same week in 2020.
Following a significant drop in mid-January, Europe‘s capacity figures grew in February and March, totalling 21.6 million scheduled seats by the end of last month. This represents a 167 per cent growth over the end of March, last year and a massive 317 per cent increase over March 2020.
“The number of scheduled seats in North America has been growing continuously since January, and now stands at 24.6 million. For March, there was a 38 per cent increase compared to March 2021 and a 27 per cent increase compared to March 2020.
“Oceania‘s capacity figures have been fluid since the beginning of the year, and after a significant drop in February, they’re back on the rise, with 1.9 million weekly seats currently scheduled. This represents a 33 per cent increase over the same week last year and a 129 percent increase over March 2020.”
The ch-aviation report, however, noted that South America is the only continent that has experienced consistent growth since April 2021, with only minor troughs.
It reads: “We see five million weekly scheduled seats there, representing a significant 119 per cent increase over the same week in March 2021 and a 286 per cent increase over March 2020.”
Also, the global industry data bank has shown the top 25 airlines worldwide with the highest load factors for January 2022.
While Azur Air made the top of the list with a load factor of 93 per cent, Mandarin Airlines is at the bottom of the list, with a load factor of nine per cent.
The report reads: “At ch-aviation, we keep track of aircraft deliveries from the largest aircraft manufacturers: Airbus, Boeing, ATR, Bombardier, COMAC, De Havilland, Embraer, and Irkut…”
In February 2022, four more aircraft were delivered than in January, for a total of 75. In comparison to the same month in 2021, we see a 25 per cent increase, while in 2020 and 2019, we see a 10 per cent and 42 per cent decrease, respectively.
Airbus delivered 49 aircraft in February 2022, a 58 per cent increase over the previous month. Compared to the same month last year, this represents a 53 per cent increase.
Boeing saw a notable 46 per cent drop in February 2022, with only 22 aircraft delivered compared to the previous month. In February 2021, the same number of aircraft was delivered.”
