It’s becoming rarer to nab an entire row of airline seats all to yourself, as flights worldwide become more fully booked than ever. Passengers find themselves lucky to have even one open seat next to them.
A new Forbes report shows that, worldwide, the average load factor for commercial airlines hit 81.9 percent in 2018. That means more than eight of 10 seats on the average flight are booked.
In 2005, that number was just 75.2.
In the United States, that increase has been the most dramatic; average load factors rose from 67.88 percent in 2002 to 86.08 percent in 2018. Low-cost airlines tend to have the highest load factors, though basic-economy fares offered by larger airlines helped fill seats, too.
The data shows Ryanair is the most crowded airline, with a load factor averaging 94.7 percent in 2017. Other airlines with load factors more than 90 percent were India’s Spicejet, Europe’s Easyjet, Wizz Air and Air Asia.
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