Which Airline Carried The Most Passengers Between The US & London In The 1st 9 Months Of 2024?

The international market between London and the United States is extremely busy, with more than one million passengers traveling monthly. According to data from the Department of Transportation
(DOT), nine airlines operated flights from London to the US in 2024 (including diversions):

1. American Airlines
2. British Airways
3. JetBlue
4. Delta Air Lines
5. Lufthansa

   (one flight)

6. SWISS

   (one flight)

7. United Airlines
8. Virgin Atlantic
9. Norse Atlantic

Data from Cirium shows that nearly 14.5 million people flew between London and the US from January to September. About 18.1 million seats were available, meaning 79.72% were filled. British Airways carried more passengers than any other airline.

American Airlines

American Airlines transported 2,754,755 passengers between London and the US from January to September. The airline’s busiest month in terms of load factor was June, when it filled 87.99% of its seats. The lowest load factor was in February, with 55.56% of seats filled.

Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Cirium shows that American operated the following routes this year:

1. London (Heathrow) – Charlotte
2. London (Heathrow) – Miami
3. London (Heathrow) – Phoenix
4. London (Heathrow) – Philadelphia
5. London (Heathrow) – Dallas/Fort Worth
6. London (Heathrow) – Chicago O’Hare
7. London (Heathrow) – Boston
8. London (Heathrow) – Los Angeles
9. London (Heathrow) – New York (JFK)
10. London (Heathrow) – Raleigh/Durham

Of the ten regularly scheduled routes, Charlotte had the best overall load factor throughout the year, with 83.84% of seats filled. The lowest overall load factor was to Raleigh, with 69.91%.

JetBlue

JetBlue started flying to London in August 2021, when it launched a route between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York and Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London. Since then, the airline has expanded its operations and flies to Heathrow and London Gatwick Airport (LGW). According to Cirium, JetBlue transported 281,053 passengers to and from London in the first nine months of the year.

Photo: Coby Wayne | Shutterstock

As with American Airlines, the best load factor for the airline was in June, with 86.72% of seats filled. The lowest load factor was in February, when only 59.27% of seats were filled. JetBlue had four regularly scheduled routes:

1. JFK – London (Heathrow)
2. JFK – London Gatwick
3. Boston – London (Heathrow)
4. Boston – London (Heathrow)

All four routes had similar load factors, but the strongest was from Boston to Heathrow, at 76.35%. The lowest average load factor was from JFK to Heathrow, with 73.46% of seats filled.

British Airways

British Airways is the airline that carried the most passengers between London and the US in the first nine months of 2024. According to Cirium, 5,766,590 passengers flew on British Airways. From January to September, the airline had 6,750,553 seats available, which means 85.31% of seats were filled.

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The airline operated 28 routes during that time, all of which are listed below:

1. London (Heathrow) – New York (JFK)
2. London (Heathrow) – Newark
3. London (Heathrow) – Los Angeles
4. London (Heathrow) – Miami
5. London (Heathrow) – Boston
6. London (Heathrow) – Chicago
7. London (Heathrow) – San Francisco
8. London (Heathrow) – Houston
9. London (Heathrow) – Washington (Dulles)
10. London (Heathrow) – Seattle
11. London (Heathrow) – Las Vegas
12. London (Heathrow) – Phoenix
13. London (Heathrow) – San Diego
14. London (Heathrow) – Philadelphia
15. London (Heathrow) – Atlanta
16. London (Heathrow) – Dallas/Fort Worth
17. London (Heathrow) – Denver
18. London (Heathrow) – Austin
19. London (Heathrow) – Baltimore
20. London (Heathrow) – Nashville
21. London (Heathrow) – Cincinnatti
22. London (Heathrow) – Pittsburgh
23. London (Heathrow) – Portland
24. London (Heathrow) – New Orleans
25. London Gatwick – New York (JFK)
26. London Gatwick – Las Vegas
27. London Gatwick – Orlando
28. London Gatwick – Tampa

Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, flew just over one million passengers in the first nine months of 2024. The airline had its best load factor in August, when 89.98% of its seats were filled on all routes. February was the lowest point, when Delta only filled 49.92% of seats.

Photo: OLOS | Shutterstock

The best-performing route was from JFK to Gatwick, which had an 85.62% average load factor. The route from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Heathrow, which Delta cut in May, was the worst-performing route, with a 48.62% load factor. All of Delta’s London routes are listed below:

1. London (Heathrow) – Atlanta
2. London (Heathrow) – New York (JFK)
3. London (Heathrow) – Detroit
4. London (Heathrow) – Minneapolis
5. London (Heathrow) – Boston
6. London (Heathrow) – Seattle
7. London (Heathrow) – Salt Lake City
8. London (Heathrow) – Los Angeles
9. London (Gatwick) – JFK

United Airlines

United Airlines had the second-highest number of passengers flown between London and the US in the first nine months of 2024. Cirium shows the airline transported just over 1.7 million passengers and filled 75.05% of its seats during that time. United’s best load factor was in July, when 88.65% of seats were filled. The worst-performing month was February, when only 56.45% of seats were filled.

Photo: Lukas Souza | United Airlines

United operated the following routes:

1. London (Heathrow) – Newark
2. London (Heathrow) – Chicago
3. London (Heathrow) – San Francisco
4. London (Heathrow) – Houston
5. London (Heathrow) – Washington (Dulles)
6. London (Heathrow) – Denver
7. London (Heathrow) – Los Angeles

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United had the best load factor from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), filling 82.87% of seats. Los Angeles was the worst-performing route, with 63.12% of seats filled.

Virgin Atlantic

Virgin Atlantic carried more than 2.4 million passengers in the year’s first nine months. During that time, the airline had 3,162,069 seats available, so 76.50% were filled. The best month for Virgin was July, when 85.10% of seats were filled. In February, only 60.50% were filled.

Photo: Rene Dominguez | Shutterstock

Virgin operated the following routes:

1. London (Heathrow) – New York (JFK)
2. London (Heathrow) – Los Angeles
3. London (Heathrow) – Miami
4. London (Heathrow) – Orlando
5. London (Heathrow) – San Francisco
6. London (Heathrow) – Boston
7. London (Heathrow) – Atlanta
8. London (Heathrow) – Las Vegas
9. London (Heathrow) – Tampa
10. London (Heathrow) – Seattle
11. London (Heathrow) – Washington (Dulles)
12. London (Heathrow) – Austin

Virgin’s best load factor was to Orlando International Airport (MCO) in Florida. Data shows that through September, Virgin filled 84.39% of its seats and 255,502 passengers were transported. The lowest-performing route was to Austin Bergstrom International Airport (AUS). This route only had seven flights in January, and Virgin only filled 61.18% of its seats.

Norse Atlantic

During the year’s first nine months, Norse Atlantic flew 472,985 passengers between London and the US. The load factor during this period was 74.06%. Norse’s busiest month was in August, when 81.65% of seats were filled. The airline struggled in January, filling just 55.12% of its seats.

Photo: Norse Atlantic

Norse operated the following routes:

1. London Gatwick – New York (JFK)
2. London Gatwick – Orlando
3. London Gatwick – Miami
4. London Gatwick – Los Angeles
5. London Gatwick – Las Vegas