Flights cut on 9/11 anniversary
Travellers’ fears of flying on the anniversary of September 11 prompted airlines to cut the number of flights today, figures suggest.
According to flight information specialists OAG, airlines around the world scheduled 72,674 services for today – more than 2,000 fewer than last Thursday.
The drop repeats a pattern seen last year when there were almost 4,000 fewer flights scheduled to take off worldwide on September 11.
Lynne Fraser, marketing director at OAG, said: “The same situation happened last year. When you look at the week of September 11 the flight numbers actually decreased during the week and then went back up again to virtually what they were the previous week.”
Worst hit is the US market where the number of international flights scheduled for today is down 5% on last Thursday while domestic flights are much as 7% lower.
By contrast the number of domestic flights within the UK today is down just 1% on last Thursday.
Airlines around the world have had a bumpy ride since the tragic events in the US two years ago with the recent war in Iraq also hurting confidence.
But the figures suggest some recovery for the industry.
While the total number of flights scheduled for today around the world is almost 5,000 or 6% down on that two years ago, the decline was as much as 8% on the first anniversary of the attacks.
The figures suggest that confidence recovered relatively quickly on this side of the Atlantic.
There are 16,136 flights scheduled within western Europe today – just 2% down on those two years ago and up slightly on the number this day last year.
But in the US there are 25,778 domestic flights scheduled today – still 16% below pre-September 11 levels.
