Travelers Who Wait Might Have a Disappointing Christmas: Nearly 60 Million Airline Seats will not be offered

Increases in fuel prices have translated into less services received when flying, new fees levied to travelers, a continued seat reduction in flight capacity, and even defunct airlines. However, according to the Official Airline Guide (OAG), nearly 60 million airline seats will be eliminated in the 4^th quarter of 2008, compared to available seats in 2007…just in time for the busy holiday travel season.

While last-minute holiday shoppers can score some good deals, this is not the case for the 2008 holiday travel season. Those who procrastinate might just have the Grinch steal their Christmas travel dreams.

The latest figures from OAG’s consolidated database reveal a 7% drop both in the number of flights and in seat capacity for October, November and December 2008 compared with the same time last year.  The U.S. domestic market will account for about 20 million of that figure, or 33% of the global decline in capacity, in what could potentially be the most widespread crisis to hit the aviation industry in recent memory, according to an OAG press release.

Steve Casley, Chief Operating Officer of 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 5% drop in capacity and a 7% drop in flights.  Steady annual growth since 2002 looks set to plummet in the fourth quarter this year with an unprecedented global decline of 7%.”

OAG reports it is not only passengers who are facing reduced service and choice.  Many airports will be severely affected by the announced cuts by airline operations, with 275 airports around the world losing scheduled air service altogether based on current filed schedules. Of these, 32 are in the U.S. while 116 are in the Asia Pacific region, OAG reports.

Traveling during the holidays is hectic enough as it is without this capacity reduction and service elimination to certain airports. Travelers hoping to travel over the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas), should consider booking their flights now with this newly released data.

OAG, which also maintains the world’s leading fleet database, has adjusted its 10-year forecast for the global scheduled aircraft fleet to shrink by more than 3,500 aircraft as a result of high jet fuel prices and to reflect the impact of these capacity cuts.

Now is not the time to procrastinate or to hope airline prices “might” drop! “If you know you are traveling during peak holiday time, then go ahead and purchase your ticket now,” says Bill Thomas, owner of Tropical Latitudes Travel. “The continued airline turmoil is not conducive to shop around and only to end up paying more for a ticket, but even more importantly, missing the flight opportunity all together.”

To ensure travelers’ holiday trips are protected, travel insurance has never played a more important role. Those traveling during the holidays can purchase travel insurance through comparison sites such as Squaremouth.com to ensure their Christmas is still merry!

Do not assume that purchasing travel insurance through the airline direct is a full-proof protection as if the airline declares bankruptcy; customers are not covered, according to Squaremouth.com’s CEO Chris Harvey.