Aviation industry confidence in strengthening demand for travel to and from Europe has prompted a big increase in the number of flights on offer this month, with an extra 1.5 million seats on sale for the start of the summer season, according to travel and transport information company OAG. (7/10/2006)

Although this month's worldwide flight total is only one percent higher than in July 2005, the European figure is nine percent up on last year - driven by double-digit growth in Eastern European operations, according to OAG's latest Quarterly Airline Traffic Statistics.

Ever-rising operating costs mean that airlines have to count every penny, so the decision to lay on extra flights is not taken lightly,?says Duncan Alexander, OAG managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa. They use highly-sophisticated tools and techniques to predict market trends, which means that airline timetables are a pretty accurate reflection of consumer travel demand.

The number of July flights to and from the UK, and to and from France, is only three percent up on the same month last year. However, the number of scheduled services into and out of Eastern Europe is up 12 percent, with Poland (up 21 percent) and Turkey (up 19 percent) seeing the biggest growth in international flights.

Poland and Turkey are also among the European leaders when it comes to low-cost airline growth, with the number of international budget flights up 69 percent and 63 percent respectively. However, this year's budget airline breakthrough has come in the Baltic States, where the number of low-cost operations into and out of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has rocketed 87 percent compared with July 2005.

It also shared that more than 290 million seats go on sale this month as the world's airlines operate nearly 2.5 million domestic and international flights - the highest July figure since the turn of the 21st century, and the third successive annual increase.

Although the 2,471,633 flights timetabled represent an increase of only one percent on July 2005, airlines are anticipating significant regional increases in demand for travel. The number of flights to and from the Middle East, for example, is 16 percent higher than in July last year. Airlines plan to operate 11 percent more flights to and from the Asia-Pacific region, 10 percent more to and from Africa, and nine percent more to and from Europe. The number of flights to and from the USA and Canada, and to and from Central and South America, has increased in line with the global average.

Specifically in Asia, India this month becomes the Asia-Pacific region's new scheduled aviation powerhouse, with growth rates that outstrip even those of China, according to the latest figures from OAG.

And while the number of flights to and from China is up five percent, the figure for India is 19 per ent higher than this time last year. On the domestic front, the contrast is even more pronounced ?China's domestic flights total is up 15 percent this month, while India's is up 49 percent.

While airlines continue to pour their resources into the rest of the world, aviation activity in the Americas remains flat. Airlines have this month published 1,520 more flights to and from the USA and Canada than they scheduled in July 2005, and an extra 571 flights to and from Central and South America. In both cases, the additional services amount to a one percent year-over-year increase.