Overall global airline capacity grew for the sixth month in succession during February, according to the latest figures from OAG Aviation.

The aviation data organisation reports there were a total of 272.7 million seats on offer for February 2010, an increase of five per cent when compared to February 2009.

Data also reveal global flight frequencies are showing relatively strong growth, with an increase of some four per cent. The rise takes the total number of flights scheduled for February 2010 to 2.2 million.

Growth has been led by no-fills airlines.

OAG finds global frequency and capacity in the low-cost sector are both up by 11 per cent when compared to a year ago, with 40,704 more flights and 6.1 million more seats on offer this month.

“It is fascinating how much the movement in flight frequency and seat capacity seems to reflect the regional economic situation,” commented Mario M. Hardy, Asia Pacific vice president at OAG Aviation.

“Asia’s economy (except Japan) is gradually and carefully recovering and so are parts of Europe/the Middle East/Africa region, while North America and Japan appear to have difficulty and are struggling to come out of this recession.”

Among the major markets only North America declined in terms of traffic over the last year. Within the region the frequency of flights and seat capacity fell by one per cent (to 11,210) and two per cent (1,512,278) respectively.

In contrast the number of flights and seats on offer to and from the North American region have grown by two and three per cent respectively.

“North America adds 108 routes with the majority being domestic flights and in Latin America, 17 routes were added mostly in the Caribbean,” added Mr Hardy.

“The increase in direct service is a global trend that has been driven by the increase in low-cost carrier services flying point-to-point, which benefits the consumers.”

The latest figures are revealed in the February 2010 edition of OAG FACTS (Frequency & Capacity Trend Statistics); a monthly market intelligence tool providing data on current passenger airline activity around the world.