One quarter of flights this month will be low-cost, statistics show

The number of aircraft taking to the skies is continuing to increase at a steady rate, according to aviation analyst OAG Aviation - but low-cost airlines are performing better than ever.

In its monthly FACTS report, OAG said that 2.77 million flights will depart around the world this month, some three percent more than August last year and the third successive month of gains.

The best-performing region was the Middle East, which posted an eight percent rise in capacity to and from the region, followed by Asia Pacific, which saw a seven percent rise.

The capacity on flights to and from Europe rose by five percent, said OAG Aviation, while flight capacity to and from North America rose by two percent.

Growth in seats on flights to and from Central and South America grew by one percent, and the number of flights to and from Africa fell by two percent as a result of ongoing unrest, although in a piece of good news for Egypt demand seems to be increasing at Cairo Airport, which showed an uptick in both the number of flights and number of seats for August.

For the first time during the busy August holiday period, low-cost flights will account for a quarter of all seats sold worldwide this month, according to OAG's calculations.

The number of budget flights taking off around the globe was up nine percent in August.

http://www.oagaviation.com/