excess capacity

noun [U]

Definition

› ECONOMICS, COMMERCE the ability to hold or deal with a larger number of people or things than is needed at the present time: The airline has shifted some of its excess capacity from Asian to North Atlantic routes.

› PRODUCTION the ability to produce more of something than is needed at the present time: The company has just opened a new factory and hopes to fill all its excess capacity with a new marketing push.

(Definition of excess capacity noun from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)