'Low-cost airline capacity shows highest increase in Asia'

Asia has emerged as the strongest player in low-cost carrier (LCC) seats with an overall increase of 28 percent in the first six months of 2013, a new analysis has said.

With a total of 129 million departing LCC seats in Asia, carriers in Indonesia (capacity up by 12.3 million seats), India (capacity up by 3.0 million seats), Thailand (capacity up by 2.0 million seats) and Malaysia (capacity up by 1.8 million) are responsible for half the total global LCC capacity growth, said the analysis by Amadeus' Air Traffic solution.

"When capital cities are examined, it is evident that capacity increases are being driven by emerging Asian nations. Jakarta saw the strongest absolute LCC capacity growth of any capital, increasing by 2.8 million seats or 44 percent, closely followed by Bangkok, up 1.2 million seats or 30 percent.

In addition, the heavily developed Tokyo market also saw a significant increase in LCC seat capacity, which suggests the traditional focus on full service could be changing," a statement released here said.

In the Middle East too, LCCs have shown a significant potential for growth with an overall increase in seat capacity from 11.5 million in the first half of 2012 to 13.5 million during the same period in 2013.

Globally, LCCs have seen an overall increase in seat capacity of 6.8 per cent in 2013 with a strong capacity growth in Asia and modest increases across Europe and North America.