1. Qantas - top place for routes and seats in 2024
The national carrier flies eight routes from Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.
- Airline: Qantas
- No flights (2024): 4,176
- Total seats: 1,223,019
- Available Seat Miles (ASM): 9,174,554,396
- Routes operated: DFW to MEL/SYD; LAX to MEL/SYD/BNE; JFK to SYD (via AKL); SFO to SYD; HNL to SYD
- Aircraft types operated: Boeing 787-9; Airbus A380; Airbus A330
Qantas leads the way for Australia to US flights but is not that far ahead of United Airlines. In 2024, there are 4176 scheduled flights. It also works with its oneworld partner American Airlines. When these routes are considered together, the oneworld alliance is a clear leader for the routes.
Unsurprisingly, with so many routes, Qantas operates several aircraft types between Australia and the US. In the second half of 2024, the Boeing 787-9 appears on many routes. The A380 is used on some LAX to Sydney and Melbourne flights. The A330 also appears on HNL to Sydney and LAX to Brisbane.
Data in the article is from Cirium, an aviation analytics company. Flight data is based on the whole year of 2024 and aircraft utilized is based on the period July to December 2024.
2. United Airlines
United comes a very close second with six routes.
- Airline: United Airlines
- No flights (2024): 3,857
- Total seats: 1,115,091
- Available Seat Miles (ASM): 8.468355639
- Routes operated: SFO to MEL/SYD/BNE; LAX to MEL/SYD; IAH to SYD
- Aircraft types operated: Boeing 787-9; Boeing 777-300
Taking on Qantas and the oneworld alliance, United Airlines (as a member of Star Alliance) operates almost 4,000 flights on six routes between the countries.
United's largest operation is on the San Francisco to Sydney route which operates twice daily (only Delta Air Lines also does this - on the LAX to Sydney route). According to US Department of Transportation T-100 data, United launched the long route in 1994 and previously operated the Boeing 747 on it. It is now flown exclusively with its largest aircraft type—the Boeing 777-300.
The Boeing 777-300 is also found on some SFO to Melbourne and Brisbane flights—with all other routes using the Boeing 787-9.
3. Delta Air Lines
Third place but well behind for SkyTeam with less than 1,000 flights in 2024.
- Airline: Delta Air Lines
- No flights (2024):964
- Total seats:294984
-Available Seat Miles(ASM):2206250820
-Routes operated:LAXtoSYD,BNE
-Aircrafttypesoperated:A350900
DeltaAirLinescomesinsecondamongthemainUScarriers,butwhenyouconsiderthatthird-placeAmericanAirlineshasalliancepartnerQuantastosharewith,theSkyTeamallianceiswaybehind.DeltaoperatesonlytworoutesbetweenthecountriesfromLosAngelesLAXtoSydneyandBrisbane.ThesearebothoperatedwiththeAirbusA350900withtheSydneyflightbeingtheairline'sthirdlongestwiththetype(behindAtlantatoCapeTownandJohannesburg).TheBrisbaneflightonlystartedinearly2024—withDeltafollowingitscompetitorsinstartingdirectservicetothecity.
Related:
DeltaAirLinesUpsLAX-SydneyAirbusA350FlightsToDoubleDaily.Itisthecarrier'shighestfrequencytodate.
AmericanAirlines:
Boostingoneworld'sleadingpositionontheroutes:
-Airline:AmericanAirlines
-Noflights(2024):862
-Totalseats:259578
-ASM:1973545086
-RoutesoperatedDFWtoBNE,LAXtoSYD
-Aircrafttypesoperated:Boeing7879,Boeing777300
AmericanAirlinesmayoperatethefewestflightstoAustraliaoutofthethreemainUSairlines,buthasastrongpresencethroughitsoneworldpartnerQantas.Thetwoairlineshaveajointventureinplace,andcodeshareonroutesbetweenthecountries(andwithonwardconnections).Theairline’stworoutesarebetweenLosAngelesLAXandSydney(competingwithallthemainoperators)andbetweenDallasDFWandBrisbane.TheBrisbaneroutewasonlyannouncedinFebruary2024(tostartinOctober).Itwillbetheairline’slongestflighttodate.ItwillbeoperatedwiththeBoeing7879whereasSydneyflightsarealloperatedwithaBoeing777300.
Related:
AmericanAirlinesAnnouncedItsLongestFlightYetHere’sWhatIt’sReplacing.Thenewnon-stopservicewillcovermorethan8300miles.
JetStar:
Operatinglow-costflightstoHawaiifromSydneyandMelbourne:
-AirlineJetStar:Noflights(202457574)
-Totalseats192290ASMASM1004660980Routes:HNLtoSYDMELAircrafttypes:Boeing7878
Qantas’subsidiaryairlineJetStaralsooperatesflightsbetweenAustraliaandtheUStargetingaverydifferentmarketfromtheQantasandAmericanAirlinesscheduledflights.TheflightsprimarilyaimattheholidaymarketflyingtoHawaii.ItdoesnotflytotheUSmainland.ItsroutetoMelbourneisthelongestdirectflightoperatingfromHNL.BothroutesareflownusingtheBoeing7878andoperate severaltimesperweek(inearly202453timesaweekforSydneytwiceaweekforMelbourne).
HawaiianAirlines:
Justonedirectflightbutairlinehasonwardconnections:
-Airline:HawaiianAirlinesNoflights(532)
-Totalseats147896ASMASM749241136Routes:HNLtoSYDAircrafttypes:A330
HawaiianAirlinesfollowsbehindJetStaroperatingjustoneroutebetweenHawaii(HNL)andSydney.OfcoursetheairlinealsoconnectstotheUSmainland.Itnowcurrentlyfive timesaweekbutasscheduleschangeyear-round.HawaiianusesA330forthisroute.
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