Summary Never has the all-important third quarter had so many US/Canada-Europe flights. United is the largest operator and has 13.5% of the non-stop market.
JetBlue has more than doubled its European presence compared to last year, but from a low base. For northern airlines, the third quarter (July-September) is vital for profitability and to help boost financial reserves for the winter. Against this backdrop, there have never been more US/Canada-Europe flights in Q3 than this year.
While passenger and fare figures will be out later, strong demand is evident, including for the premium cabins. It would be Newark's largest-capacity equipment. A record number of flights Using Cirium data to examine all US/Canada-Europe flights shows 65,646 non-stop departures in Q3 2024 (double for both ways).
Spread across 92 days, that's an average of 714 take-offs daily. Flights are 7.4% above the previous record, Q3 2023.
It equates to around 49 additional departures daily. Slightly smaller aircraft, both widebodies and narrowbodies, partly helped development. The average flight now has 273 seats, the lowest number for eight years.
Despite many airline changes, departures have risen strongly compared to before the pandemic in 2019. Comparing now with then shows that Atlantic Airways, Discover, Iberojet, JetBlue, Neos, Norse Atlantic, and PLAY now serve the enormous market. In comparison, these carriers no longer do: Aeroflot (due to the war and sanctions) Air Italy (defunct) Air New Zealand .