According to the Official Airline Guide’s (OAG) statistics, there has been a substantial global increase of flight capacity in February 2026 compared to previous years. This is partially due to Chinese New Year falling in February and also an increase in tourism and business in Africa. From many regional increases in seats across the world to Emirates leading the International Available Seat Kilometres by an almost 10 billion difference, February 2026 has seen one of the larger increases in flight capacity in recent years.
Which regions have seen the highest flight capacity growth in 2026?
Many regions have shown large increases in flight capacity since February 2025, with Southern Africa increasing by 11.8% at the top of the group and Central/Western Africa at 9.3% of an increase since 2025. Overall, Africa as a continent has seen the largest overarching increase in its capacity in February 2026.
Southeast Asia has seen a large growth in capacity, reaching 39,643,552, a large increase from the previous year at 7.7%, sitting just above the Middle East. North Africa and Central/Eastern Europe have shown a large increase in capacity too, both sitting around the 9% variance marker.
In terms of the largest numerical capacity, not shown on the graph of highest variance due to larger previous overall capacity, Northeast Asia is the highest region for flight capacity, sitting at 110,198,041. This is a 7 million increase in seats since February 2025. Just beneath is North America, with 96,729,000 seats, yet only a 1.3% increase since 2025. Similarly, Western Europe sits at 81,527,757 seats, and again, only a 1.7% increase from February 2025.
Meanwhile, some of the lowest variance has come from North America, with only 1.3% variance since February 2025, along with Upper South America at 1.2% and the Caribbean, with a decrease since February 2025 at -1.2%. These are not included in the graph as they fall at lower end of the scale for capacity in February 2026.
As documented on this graph below, these are the highest percentage increases in % variance for flight capacity in February 2026.
How about domestic capacity?
In a domestic capacity, the USA and China hold the highest positions, with the USA holding 77.5 million seats and China, just below them with 71.2 million seats. In the top three spots beneath these two countries fall India, Japan and Brazil, with India’s domestic capacity holding over 15 million seats, Japan just over 10 million and Brazil just reaching 10 million.
While many of the top ten countries for domestic capacity in this category have gained more seats since February 2025, Japan’s capacity has decreased by around 2% this year. This is a direct contrast to both China and Vietnam, who have seen much increase since last year. China’s capacity has increased by 7.4% this year, and Vietnam has seen a larger increase of 14.5%.
Other countries mentioned in the top ten for capacity in February 2026 are Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Vietnam and Türkiye, all sitting under the 10 million seats spot.
On an international level…
This year, compared to last year, has seen a large increase of Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) in many international airlines, with Emirates operating as the highest airline capacity at 29.7 billion ASKs. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways, United, Ryanair and Turkish Airlines all fall in the high teens category, with capacities ranging between 19.9 billion and 17.2 billion, a difference of 2.7 billion between Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines.
Delta and American Airlines both sit at 12.7 billion ASKs, with British Airways only higher by 0.1 billion.
On the other end of the scale, Latam Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines all fall in the 7 billion range, with Latam Airlines holding 7.6 billion ASKs and China Southern Airlines 7.1 billion ASKs. Whilst lower than some of the other airlines, China Southern Airlines has shown a 23.1% increase since February 2025. Lufthansa is the only airline that has seen a decrease in February 2026, with its ASKs dropping by 3.8%.
The totals are…
Flight capacity has seen major increases since February 2025, with plenty of regional, international and domestic increases across the globe. Few airlines and regions saw a decrease in its flight capacity in February 2026.
According to the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA), Africa has experienced record growth in flight capacity in 2026; February’s statistics contributing to these high numbers. These increases are attributed to growing business travel demand, tourism and the development of airports across the continent.
North East Asia holds the highest seat capacity, with North America and Western Europe following closely. Domestic capacity remains the highest in the USA and China, with both countries sitting between 71-77 million seats. In the international capacity, Emirates has the highest ASK, holding its position by almost 10 billion. Global capacity itself has also increased, seeing more flight capacity on the rise from February 2025.
Data collections over the last few years have projected that flight capacity and tourism globally will increase further each year, expecting these numbers to rise annually, and therefore these numbers reflect this expectation.
Whose flight capacity surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments below.
