If you were flying on 2 August this year, you would have been right to feel the airports were a bit busier than usual.
This is because, according to OAG research, 2 August 2024 was the
busiest day ever for air travel, with 17,987,792 airline seats scheduled
for that day.
And, in further evidence of the rebound in travel from the Covid years, the top 40 busiest days for air travel fell in 2024.
OAG dug a little deeper into the figures and found that almost all of
the busiest annual days to fly have been in July or August, with
‘exceptions to the rule’ occurring in 2020 and 2021, when the global
pandemic caused travel restrictions and a huge reduction in flight
capacity.
In 2020 capacity peaked on 3 January, which was the last Friday before news of the Covid-19 virus started to emerge globally.
Other travel data revealed by OAG:
Each year for the past 16 years, the top day for airline capacity has been a Friday.
- Six of the busiest annual days for travel were on the second Friday of August, making it the most common.
- Four of them happened on the first Friday of August.
- Four times, the busiest day was in July.
- In the two pandemic era, 'outlier' years, 2020 and 2021, the busiest days of travel were in January and December respectively.
“So, is a Friday in early August the worst day to travel?,” OAG asked.
The answer? “If we agree that delays, long queues and cancellations
add up to a bad day of travel, then rest assured that airlines and
airports run a well-oiled machine, with staffing levels, turnarounds and
timings meticulously planned for efficiency.
“You're no more likely to encounter a stressful day of air travel -
which tend to be caused by more random, uncontrollable weather events or
IT meltdowns - on the busiest day than on any other,” OAG concluded.