Recent tensions between the US and Europe have not prevented vast quantities of aviation travel across the Atlantic. Many airports have over 100 scheduled transatlantic flights to America planned for March 2026. The busiest is Heathrow by quite some distance. London’s main airport has well over twice as many transatlantic flights to the US scheduled across the month compared to second place,
Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport(CDG).
Read on to discover the other airports that are busy with transatlantic flights. To finish, this article outlines the airlines and aircraft that make up the impressive quantity of flights across the pond.
London Heathrow Is By Far The Busiest
The quantity of aviation taking the trip to the US across the Atlantic from London Heathrow Airport is astonishing, totaling 3,229 flights. There are over 840,000 seats available. Given the sizable distances of these trips, particularly to popular West Coast destinations like Los Angeles and San Francisco, it is unsurprising that this yields a ridiculous available seat miles total of over 3.5 billion.
Second place, Paris Charles de Gaulle, is not close behind. March 2026 will see 1,281 flights to the USA from France’s primary commercial airport. Passengers have over 350,000 seats to choose from for over 1.5 billion available seat miles. The bronze position goes to Frankfurt Airport, which has a little over 1,000 flights to the US scheduled. Across these March 2026 flights, there will be over 300,000 seats available, yielding almost 1.5 billion available seat miles.
The table below shows the data on the top ten busiest European airports by transatlantic flights to the US, making use of data that Simple Flying has procured from Cirium. It gives data for flights planned in March 2026:
|
Origin |
Flights |
Seats |
ASMs |
|---|---|---|---|
|
London Heathrow Airport (LHR) |
3,229 |
840,785 |
3,547,048,766 |
|
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) |
1,281 |
353,397 |
1,529,961,560 |
|
Frankfurt Airport (FRA) |
1,053 |
308,335 |
1,418,746,410 |
|
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) |
966 |
263,474 |
1,141,179,899 |
|
Dublin Airport (DUB) |
804 |
188,057 |
681,954,369 |
|
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) |
642 |
163,734 |
674,679,355 |
|
Istanbul Airport (IST) |
638 |
206,575 |
1,189,982,378 |
|
Munich Airport (MUC) |
566 |
159,976 |
784,764,674 |
|
Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) |
472 |
131,218 |
624,621,145 |
|
Zurich Airport (ZRH) |
469 |
114,678 |
516,262,298 |
Simple Flying’s data went well beyond these top ten airports to cover all of those that have over 100 flights to the US scheduled for the month. The airport closest to the line for flights to the US is Manchester Airport. Carriers will fly to the US from Manchester 101 times in March. A little over 30,000 seats will be available, yielding over 121 million available seat miles.
British Airways Dominates Transatlantic Traffic From Heathrow
Britain’s flag carrier has an unshakable dominance over the US market from
London Heathrow Airport(LHR), now offering 26 non-stop routes to the US. This impressive total has been achieved by adding Orlando to the long list of destinations, which were previously served until 2022. During the interregnum, this destination was served by Boeing 777-200ERs from Gatwick in a high-density layout. The current plans are to serve this destination from Heathrow with 18 round-trip flights during the UK school holidays (July 21 to August 29).
The 26 airports total, although not served year-round, is a record for flights to the US from Heathrow. It previously stood at 25 in 2022 and 2023, with 24 US destinations served in 2024 and 23 in 2025. The total of 24 US destinations was also standard in the years before the global pandemic. Popular US destinations served by British Airways from London Heathrow now include Austin, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. Other destinations added to the network for 2026 include St. Louis and Dallas/Fort Worth.
|
Q3 year |
Average daily departures |
|---|---|
|
2022 |
35 |
|
2023 |
41 |
|
2024 |
41 |
|
2025 |
43 |
|
2026 |
47 |
The new destinations for summer 2026 will mean record-breaking departures to the US. The table above shows third quarter daily departures from Heathrow to the US in the third-quarter of the financial year (July to September), making use of Cirium data. It reveals a planned record of 47 in 2026.
British Airways Adds Record 26th Nonstop US Route From London Heathrow
The airline plans a record-breaking operation from Heathrow to the US in the peak summer.
America’s Legacy Carriers Also Account For Many Of The Transatlantic Departures
Behind British Airways is Virgin Atlantic with 1,850 long-haul services from Heathrow in December 2025, operating aircraft like the A330, A350 and 787. However, behind this carrier is a litany of American legacy carriers. The airline with the third-most departures to the US in December 2025 was American Airlines, with a total of 1,132. Using 777s and 787s exclusively, the carrier had four daily flights to Heathrow from Dallas/Fort Worth and three from Charlotte.
United Airlines was close behind American, with 1,108 services. The Star Alliance carrier flew jets like the 767, 777, and 787. Popular destinations include Newark, Chicago, and Washington.
The other US legacy carrier, Delta Air Lines, ranked fifth among long-haul departures from London Heathrow, with 603 flights. Delta is a SkyTeam member that uses A330s and 767s for its flights from Heathrow. Atlanta is the most served destination from the West London airport.
The Aircraft Families Flying Transatlantic From London Heathrow
If you fly from London Heathrow across the Atlantic, you are highly likely to embark on a Boeing 777. Operators include American Airlines and British Airways. United previously operated this aircraft type from Heathrow in the summer months of 2024. Another common aircraft type for such routes is the Boeing 787, flown by carriers like British Airways, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Virgin Atlantic.
The table below shows the top seven aircraft types that embarked on routes between Heathrow and the US in January 2025. Although some variation can be expected compared with now, such as an increased prevalence of modern jets like the A350 and 787, we can assume the trends will be broadly similar. Likewise, we can expect the prevalence of older aircraft, like the Airbus A380, to have decreased:
|
Aircraft family |
Flights |
|---|---|
|
Boeing 777 |
2,140 |
|
Boeing 787 |
1,303 |
|
Boeing 767 |
862 |
|
Airbus A330 |
768 |
|
Airbus A350 |
714 |
|
Airbus A380 |
294 |
|
Airbus A321 |
186 |
The high capacity and range of widebody aircraft mean that they most commonly conduct transatlantic flights to the US. However, some modern narrowbody aircraft, such as the Airbus A321neo, have sufficient range to cross the Atlantic, making them perfect for niche East Coast destinations. This jet is flown by JetBlue daily to destinations like New York and Boston, using the A321LR.
The Most Popular US-Europe Transatlantic Routes In 2025
One corridor stands head and shoulders above the rest.
The Busiest Routes From The US To Europe
The airports listed in this article have services to a range of different destinations in the US. However, some routes are busier than others. The busiest route of them all is between London-Heathrow and New York-JFK, which is far busier than the equivalent route to Newark. The competition for this route is particularly intense because it pits joint SkyTeam and oneworld ventures against each other. In the fall of 2025, oneworld offered more services at 13 daily flights, while SkyTeam airlines flew eight daily services. British Airways was the dominant carrier. JetBlue and its twice-daily Airbus A321LR also offered passengers a narrowbody service.
New York-JFK also features on the second-busiest route, although this time to Paris Charles de Gaulle. A joint venture by Delta and Air France has clear dominance over this route. In fall 2025, they flew nine out of the 11 daily services. Air France was represented in six of these daily services during the summer, using Boeing 777s and Airbus A350-900s.
The third-busiest service in fall 2025 was significantly longer, taking passengers from London Heathrow to Los Angeles on the West Coast. Again, oneworld has a clear advantage due to British Airways’ firm presence at London Heathrow. American and British Airways dominate the nine daily services.
Narrowbody Aviation Will Continue To Disrupt Transatlantic Aviation
Transatlantic aviation, particularly flights to the US, has traditionally been the domain of widebody aircraft. Narrowbody jets are now entering the market, offering carriers lower operating costs for routes with less need for high capacity, or carriers like JetBlue offering niche services.
In March 2026, American Airlines became the first North American carrier to use its Airbus A321XLRs to schedule transatlantic flights. Other carriers getting involved include Air Canada, with its first such flight launching soon,
Aer Lingus, and Iberia. Outside of these flag carriers, Wizz Air has also obtained permission to charter transatlantic flights to the US to match FIFA World Cup demand.
Some of these routes using the A321XLR’s mind-boggling range are absurdly lengthy. The maximum block time for Iberia’s flight from Madrid to Washington Dulles is nine hours and 40 minutes. The carrier will operate this route between three times weekly and daily, with services offered year-round. Moving to the Emerald Isle, Aer Lingus is set to fly its A321XLRs between Dublin and Nashville four to five times weekly year-round. This service will have a block time of nine hours and 20 minutes. Some of the longest transatlantic routes are not to the US. The trip from Dublin to Barbados, set to run three times weekly, has a nine-hour and ten-minute block time.





