The US$1 billion route: London-New York tops airline revenue charts, reports OAG

INTERNATIONAL. The transatlantic route from London Heathrow to New York JFK International operated by British Airways (BA) is the most lucrative flight in the world in terms of revenue produced. It is also the only one generating more than US$1 billion annually. Global flight information provider OAG estimated that the route generated about 6% of BA’s total revenue in 2017.

The figures were extracted by combining the analyst’s flight schedules and traffic data. OAG has created a list of the top ten routes by revenue for individual airlines.

OAG Senior Analyst John Grant said: “Distance, time and capacity are only a few ways in which the airline industry measures its top ten, but there are other more telling measurements available. The top ten in terms of revenue produced doesn’t get shared very often.”

Lucrative hub for British Airways: London Heathrow dominates the airline routes that generate the most revenue.

“On an hourly basis, this (the London-New York route) equates to US$24,639 which amazingly is not quite the highest hourly earner,” said Grant. “That accolade goes to the Emirates’ Heathrow – Dubai International service that ranks third in the list.” In second place is Qantas’s Melbourne to Sydney route.

London Heathrow: the great revenue driver

OAG Senior Analyst John Grant: “The top ten in terms of revenue produced doesn’t get shared very often.”

An astonishing five out of the top ten revenue earning routes are to or from London Heathrow. The other three are Singapore Airlines to Singapore, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, and Qatar Airways to Doha.

“This may explain the ongoing debate about the Heathrow third runway with the increased competition damaging those lucrative earners,” commented Grant. “And in the same vein perhaps the OneWorld alliance needs to find a sub-brand for its Heathrow services since five of the world’s top ten revenue generators share Heathrow in common.”

OAG noted that all of the top routes are also high-cost operations. They combine generally wide-bodied services with high frequency. In the case of Melbourne-Sydney, Qantas operates around 65 flights a day. Grant said: “Typically, these routes also include a high proportion of business traffic, later booking and [are] higher yielding in nature.”

Some major airports in the list are also among the world’s biggest for duty free sales. Apart from Heathrow, Singapore, Dubai International (the world’s busiest for international traffic), Hong Kong and Sydney also appear. Other top ten routes are domestic services in major markets such as USA, Canada and Australia (as noted above).

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