Long-haul flight data reveals trends at world's busiest airports

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Long-haul flight data reveals trends at world's busiest airports

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Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport | Wikipedia

By Sky Industry News

Mar 31, 2025

Over 370 airports worldwide will have at least one scheduled long-haul passenger flight in April, with a long-haul flight defined as covering at least 2,650 nautical miles. Five countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Japan—account for 40% of these flights. The data comes from Cirium Diio.

The top 10 airports for long-haul flights remain unchanged from April 2024, but services have increased by 3%. Departures have risen from an average of 1,225 daily to 1,266. Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) experienced the fastest growth among these airports with a nearly 9% increase in long-haul flights compared to last year. Air France contributed significantly to this growth with a 6% increase in its services. Other airlines like All Nippon Airways, Air India, Air Transat, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, United Airlines, and WestJet also increased their frequencies.

Paris CDG welcomed back Avianca in July 2024 and Qantas in July 2024. Pakistan International Airlines returned in January 2025 and T'Way launched flights in August 2024.

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New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is the only airport among the top ten that saw a decrease in long-haul flights compared to last April. Its volume fell by 3%, moving it down one place to fourth due to Delta Air Lines and JetBlue reducing services. JFK lost several carriers including Aerolíneas Argentinas in August 2024, Air Senegal in September 2024, and Azores Airlines in October 2024. However, Xiamen Air returned in May 2024 and Arkia joined in February 2025.

London Heathrow remains the leading airport globally for long-haul services with an average of 250 takeoffs per day planned for April. "British Airways is mainly responsible," operating flights to destinations covering at least the minimum distance for a long-haul flight. BA will resume its service to Kuala Lumpur on April 1 with daily Boeing 787-9 operations but will end its Kuwait service on March 30.

Heathrow serves as London's main intercontinental gateway with many global operators flying there despite slot shortages that lead some airlines elsewhere. British Airways operates about a third of Heathrow's long-haul flights—a lower proportion than seen at other major European hubs.

Both JFK and Los Angeles International Airport are characterized by having multiple global carriers without any single airline dominating their operations significantly.