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Emirates capacity grows 8.1% in June

Dubai carrier becomes 4th largest in terms of systemwide capacity
Emirates airline has become the world's fourth largest in terms of systemwide capacity (ASKs) per week, a leading aviation research company said.

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) said that Emirates jumped one place to fourth in June 2011 as compared to the same month last year, enjoying 8.1 per cent growth in capacity per week.

The Dubai-headquartered carrier also ranked among the world's ten fastest growing airline during June 2011, Capa figures showed.

The top three positions were retained by the US carriers - Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines.

Continental Airlines lost to Emirates and Lufthansa dropping out of the top five and trimming its ASKs by 0.2 per cent last month.

Turkish Airlines remains the fastest-growing carrier in the top 25, with nearly 28 per cent year-on-year surge in capacity while Qatar Airways' moderation in capacity growth was another notable feature this month.

The global airlines are expecting some 5.4 per cent more seats in July 2011 than the same month in 2010, translating into a 6.8 per cent increase in ASKs.

Globally, there were 623,735 flights per week in June 2011 as compared to 601,246 in June 2010, an increase of 3.7 per cent.

Quoting OAG statistics, Capa said that growth in scheduled airline operations showed continued signs of moderating in July 2011. LCC growth, however, continued to rise, with LCCs now having a worldwide scheduled capacity share of 25 per cent, with an additional 7.5 million seats in the gloabl LCC network compared with the same month last year.

In July 2011, global seat capacity growth stood at 5 per cent (to 351.4 million seats), following growth of 5 per cent in Jun-2011 and 6 per cent in May-2011. Increases in aircraft size continue to be a key driver of seat capacity growth. Average seats per frequency increased from 125 seats in Jul-2010 to 127 in Jul-2011. The total number of scheduled flights operating in Jul-2011 increased at a slower pace, by 3 per cent year-on-year to 2.8 million.

Middle East fastest growing region

Middle East continued to be fastest growing region followed by Africa, according to the latest statistics from OAG for June 2011.

In capacity terms, the Middle East recorded 10 per cent year-on-year increase in seats in July 2011, closely followed by within Africa with a growth of 8.9 per cent, and then by to/from Asia, which saw a monthly year-on-year increase of 8.7 per cent.

Growth between western Europe and the Middle East continued apace, with only London out of the major cities reporting a decline in frequencies (-3 per cent) and seats (-1 per cent). Milan (25 per cent), Rome (10 per cent), Amsterdam (19 per cent) and Madrid (40 per cent) all made large double-digit capacity growth between the two regions. With continued aircraft deliveries scheduled for the main Gulf carriers it can be assumed that growth between Europe as a whole and the Middle East will continue for the foreseeable future.

When looking at growth in frequencies, to/from Asia leads the pack. The region recorded an 11 per cent year-on-year growth in frequencies in the month. Not far behind is the to/from Middle East market, which recorded a nine per cent year-on-year increase, Capa said quoting OAG statistics.

The intra-Asia Pacific region maintained its leading position in relation to total seat volumes in July 2011. Now just one million seats short of the 100 million mark, frequencies and seats within the region both grew by six per cent year-on-year for July 2011, adding 5.5 million additional seats and 39,437 more services. Meanwhile, frequencies and seat capacity to/from Asia Pacific has increased by 11 per cent and nine per cent, respectively.

LCCs share

In July 2011, Low cost carriers (LCCs) have a worldwide scheduled capacity share of 25 pre cent, with an additional 7.5 million seats compared to July 2010. This equates to a year-on-year increase of 9 per cent, which is on par with the growth seen in the H1 2011.

Europe still dominates the LCC market with 31.5 million intra-European seats scheduled in July 2011, marking an increase of 2.3 million seats. LCCs now represent nearly 30 per cent of all traffic within and to/from Europe, with LCC seat capacity increasing 7 per cent in the month.

© Emirates 24|7 2011