Asia is now the engine of low cost airline capacity growth across the world, accounting for 80% of all new seats in the first six months of 2013, revealed the latest analysis by Amadeus’ Air Traffic solution.

Out of the 35.6 million seats, which were added in the first half of 2013, Asia saw 28.9 million more seats come online to 129.3 million. This represents a 28.7% year-on-year increase, the biggest leap in capacity in terms of percentage and absolute numbers.

Strong growth is also seen in the Middle East, where LCC capacity grew 17.7% to inject another two million seats to 13.5 million.

For the same period surveyed Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia collectively accounted for over 50% of global LCC seat capacity growth  — Indonesia (12.3 million more seats), India (three million), Thailand (two million), and Malaysia (1.8 million).’

For capital cities Jakarta saw the strongest growth in LCC capacity, increasing by 2.8 million seats or 44%, followed by Bangkok, which received 1.2 million seats, a 30% increase.

Tokyo also saw a significant leap in LCC seat capacity, an indication that the traditional focus on full service could be changing.

Europe shows a divided landscape – from huge growth in Warsaw (63%) to Madrid’s sharp decline (-27%). However, London maintains its position as the world’s largest LCC city by capacity, with nearly 14.8 million available LCC seats in the first half of 2013

The British capital’s LCC seat capacity is 1.5 times the number of available seats at Sao Paulo, which number 10.8 million. However, the rates of growth in Jakarta (44%) and Kuala Lumpur (15%) suggest the third and fourth placed cities may move up the top 10 ranking over the coming years.

“We see a natural boom in LCC capacity across Asia, where point-to-point air travel is largely underserved. However, across the mature markets of Europe and North America capacity is constrained, which may explain why some LCCs are considering new approaches to secure future growth,: said Alexandre Jorre, LCC specialist, Amadeus.

“With a 25% year on year rise over the first half of 2013, LCC bookings in Amadeus are growing significantly, which is a very encouraging sign that our ability to adapt to LCC distribution needs is proving attractive to both travel agents and airlines.”