OAG, the world's premier airline flight tracking service has issued its 2023 airline industry report card for the airline industry.

The airline industry report card tells us where we went and how far we travelled.

Here are the numbers:

Busiest day: In 2023, the busiest day for airlines was Friday, August 11th, when airlines operated 18,586,233 seats. For context, the average daily capacity over the year was 16,582,222, making this peak summer day 12% busier than the average travel day.

Quietest day: Conversely, the quietest day to travel by air is the third Saturday of the year, at least based on 2023's data. 13,967,001 seats operated on January 21st, making the day 16% less busy than the average for airline operators.

Busiest route by ASK (seats X distance): The top airline route based on is New York JFK to London Heathrow. Heathrow features in 4 out of the top 10 routes by ASK:

• New York JFK - London Heathrow, 21,471,979,424 ASKs
• London Heathrow - Singapore 19,460,546,436 ASKs
• LAX - London Heathrow, 19,179,264,984 ASKs
• Dubai - London Heathrow, 16,349,249,847 ASKs

Largest Airline: The largest airline in the world in 2023 was Southwest, with 619 billion ASKs. The carrier operated 9% more ASKs than its closest rival for the top spot, American Airlines.

See the full report here:

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