Air capacities are down between Europe and Southeast Asia for the coming winter season

European and Asian airlines will offer less seats and frequencies on direct services during winter 2012 compared to winter 2011.

BANGKOK- The recession in Europe is biting into the evolution of air transport capacity this winter season. From eight airports in Southeast Asia connected to Europe, five of them will experience a decrease in seat capacities this winter compared to IATA previous winter season 2011/12. Looking at data from IATA SRS Analyser for November 2012 – when winter schedule are fully implemented- the largest decrease will affect Jakarta with seats’ capacity down by 16.4% as Garuda reduced sharply its services to Amsterdam. Bangkok experiences the second largest decrease on a year-to-year basis with seats capacity down by 8.1 %. The Thai capital lost in one year two airlines (Qantas and Air Berlin) while Athens, Berlin and Düsseldorf services were terminated. Phnom Penh is also affected by Air France’s reduced activity in the region. A smaller aircraft is put into service via Saigon, translating into a decline of 7.9% in seats. Following AirAsia X decision to terminate in April its two services to London Gatwick and Paris Orly while Malaysia Airlines stopped its route to Rome, capacities out of Malaysia to Europe is down by 6%. Ho Chi Minh City will experience a slight reduction of 1.9% in seats capacity this coming winter.

Singapore Changi International however continues to offer more seats although they will be less destinations directly connected to the City State (14 destinations versus 16 in November 2011). Singapore total seats capacity to Europe is up by 3.8%. Surprisingly, the biggest increase in total seats will be at Manila airport. KLM enjoys a full monopoly to Europe as Philippine Airlines withdraw from this market a decade ago. This winter KLM will offer 9,810 seats per month between Amsterdam and Manila, up by 20%.

Compared to winter 2011, Athens, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Manchester and Warsaw are not anymore connected to Southeast Asia while London Gatwick, Paris Orly and Rome are not connected anymore to Kuala Lumpur.

Table: Seat capacities to Europe for major airports in Southeast Asia

	Number of Airlines	Number of destinations	Number of available seats	Number of monthly flights
Bangkok	16	21	278,257	862
Singapore	8	14	275,425	764
Kuala Lumpur	3	5	72,019	214
Ho Chi Minh City	5	6	39,157	134
Jakarta	4	3	26,961	98
Hanoi	2	5	26,282	85
Manila	1	1	9,810	30
Phnom Penh	1	1	3,168	12

(Source: IATA SRS Analyser July 15, 2012)

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Luc Citrinot

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Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.