Airlines are set to make the reduction, the equivalent of one in every 14 seats, in response to high oil prices and the global credit crisis, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG). Reduced availability is almost certain to force up ticket prices. Higher tickets = fewer passengers = higher tickets = fewer passengers, etc etc In all there will be 59.7m fewer tickets available compared to October-December last year. Routes will be scrapped at 275 airports around the world and 3,500 fewer planes will be needed, according to the OAG.
While Europe will suffer the loss of 5.5m seats, America will be worst hit, with a reduction of about 20m.
Some of Britain's biggest airlines, including British Airways, Ryanaid and Easyjet, have already confirmed that they are making major cuts to their capacity, while experts have predicted that further reductions are sure to follow in 2009 as the industry, which has expanded rapidly in recent years, adjusts to the current economic downturn.
British Airways has already dropped six of its short-haul routes to European destinations from Gatwick, while Ryanair has also axed several routes from Stansted.
Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, last week said that the airline industry was facing its "worst ever" business environment. a Spokesman for British Airways said: "Our capacity has been reduced 3.1 per cent versus last year. I think that Willie Walsh has been quite upfront about that. He has said it is inevitable that fares will rise."
Steve Casley, the chief executive of the OAG, said: "The data speaks for itself. It took a good three years for the industry to recover from the downturn in 2001 when it had a five per cent drop in capacity and a sevenper cent drop in flights.
"From our statistics, it looks quite possible that we may be facing a far more severe global downturn than we have experienced before.
"The industry's resilience will be pushed to its limits in the coming months."