In 2024, around 23 million people will fly on the top ten busiest international air routes out of Europe. These passenger numbers reflect the rebound in strong demand for travel to major destinations around the world from key European cities. As an avid traveller, I was very curious to see how many of these routes I’ve experienced on my journeys.

1. London Heathrow (LHR) to New York JFK (JFK)

• Passengers per year: Over 3 million
• Airlines: British Airways, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines
• Details: This route is one of the major business and leisure corridors and connects two of the world’s largest financial hubs.
• My Travels: Only one BA flight on this sector in a Boeing 747. This is largely because I avoid both JFK and LHR airports as much as possible! Concorde used to operate this sector in a few short hours. My dream would have been to ride her for that short trans-Atlantic journey. The closest I have got to a Concorde in NYC is G-BOAD displayed here at the Intrepid Museum:

2. Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to New York JFK (JFK)

• Passengers per year: Approximately 2.8 million
• Airlines: Air France, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines
• Details: Paris to New York is a key route for business travellers and tourists alike.
• My Travels: I flew this one once with Continental on a 747. We landed into a December snowstorm in New York and found most flights coming in had been cancelled, leading to a very quiet airport. Continental Airlines merged with United Airlines in 2010, and the combined airline moved all CDG flights to Newark airport.

3. Frankfurt (FRA) to Dubai (DXB)

• Passengers per year: Around 2.5 million
• Airlines: Emirates, Lufthansa. Emirates typically operates one Airbus 380 and one Boeing 777-300ER daily on this route, while Lufthansa operates a daily Airbus A330-300 aircraft​. During the European summer, Emirates runs an additional daily flight.
• Details: This route links a major European hub with the Middle East’s primary travel gateway. Emirates funnels a lot of people into its network at DXB.
• My Travels: While I have travelled between Dubai and many places in Europe, this has not been one of my routes

4. London Heathrow (LHR) to Dubai (DXB)

• Passengers per year: About 2.4 million
• Airlines: Emirates, British Airways, Royal Brunei Airlines
• Details: A crucial route for both business and leisure, connecting Europe with Asia and beyond with ten daily flights between the two.
• My Travels: I have flown this with all the three carriers on this sector.

5. Amsterdam (AMS) to New York JFK (JFK)

• Passengers per year: Nearly 2.3 million
• Airlines: KLM, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue
• Details: A vital transatlantic link for both tourism and business.
• My Travels: I have never flown long haul from Amsterdam airport to any destination, including JFK

6. London Heathrow (LHR) to Singapore (SIN)

• Passengers per year: Approximately 2.2 million
• Airlines: Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Qantas
• Details: This route is popular among business travellers. Many use Singapore’s Changi hub to connect to multiple Australian or Southeast Asia cities.
• I have flown this route directly three times with QF and BA and also with stopovers with several other carriers!

7. Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Dubai (DXB)

• Passengers per year: Around 2 million
• Airlines: Emirates (3 flights daily), Air France ( one flight)
• Details: This connection serves as a key route for travellers heading to the Middle East and Asia.
• My Travels: Just one flight for me with a large middle Eastern carrier!

8. Frankfurt (FRA) to New York JFK (JFK)

• Passengers per year: Over 1.9 million
• Airlines: Lufthansa, United Airlines
• Details: An essential route for business travel and tourism between Europe and North America.
• My travels: As a Star Alliance hub, I have flown through Frankfurt with Lufthansa to numerous US destinations. As well as this JFK route, I have flown to Boston, JFK, Washington DC, Dallas Fort Worth, and Philadelphia. One of the nice things about this sector is Lufthansa uses 380s. They stopped them for a while, but they have returned.

9. London Heathrow (LHR) to Hong Kong (HKG)

• Passengers per year: About 1.8 million
• Airlines: Cathay Pacific, British Airways
• Details: A critical route for trade and business travel between Europe and Asia.
• My Travels: Most of my flights to or from Hong Kong are with Cathay, and this is who I have flown on this sector

10. Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Hong Kong (HKG)

• Passengers per year: Approximately 1.7 million
• Airlines: Air France, Cathay Pacific
• Details: This route connects Europe with the key Asian financial hub of Hong Kong.
• My travels: Cathay has transported me three times on this route.

The twelve carriers operating these routes in order of the number of routes they operate are:

• British Airways with 4 routes
• Emirates and Air France with three apiece
• Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific have two
• American, Delta, KLM, Qantas, Singapore, United, and Virgin Atlantic each operate one route.

Of the top ten routes out of Europe, I have been on nine of them. How about you?

The information about the top ten busiest international air routes out of Europe was sourced from OAG (Official Airline Guide) (FlightStats)​ and (WorldAtlas).