Summary

  • Widebody flights are always exciting, perhaps especially at airports with few services by them.
  • When the US and its territories are considered, Saipan, in the Northern Mariana Islands, is the least-served.
  • San Antonio has joined the list due to the May 2024 start of Condor from Frankfurt.

Some 47 US and US territory airports will have widebody flights in July 2024. That finding is based on examining every planned service using OAG data. Inevitably, New York JFK has the most, with the rest of the top five being Los Angeles, San Francisco, Newark, and Chicago O’Hare. More than 600 US airports will have scheduled passenger services this month, but just one in 12 will see a widebody.

The airports with the fewest widebodies

The 10 airports are shown below. In July, there are 173 departures and 39 a week. They will provide just one in 164 of the US’s twin-aisle services.

A British Airways Boeing 787-10 on final approach

Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock

The information is for July only and will be different at other times. Treat it as a snapshot of what is happening. Pittsburgh, in 10th place, has 27 departures. As such, any airport with more than that, including Ontario with 28, is excluded.

Airport

July departures* (total)

Weekly flights

Airline (route, aircraft)

Saipan

Nine

Two

Hong Kong Airlines (Hong Kong; A330-300)

St Louis

13

Three

Lufthansa (Frankfurt; A330-300)

Fort Myers

13

Three

Discover (Frankfurt, A330-200/300)

San Antonio

14

Three

Condor (Frankfurt, A330neo)

Pago Pago

14

Three

Hawaiian (Honolulu, A330-200)

Oakland

14

Three

Azores Airlines (weekly Terceira, A330-200*); Hawaiian (twice-weekly Honolulu, A330-200**)

New Orleans

21

Five

British Airways (London Heathrow, 787-10/787-8)

Anchorage

22

Five

Condor (three weekly Frankfurt, A330neo), Discover (twice-weekly Frankfurt, A330-200/300)

San Jose

26

Six

ZIPAIR (Tokyo Narita, 787-8)

Pittsburgh

27

Six

British Airways (London Heathrow, 787-8)

* Double for both ways

* Wet leased from Plus Ultra; ** In addition to narrowbodies

Condor to San Antonio

On May 17, 2024, San Antonio welcomed Condor from Frankfurt, becoming the Texas airport’s first long-haul route, the first to Europe, and the only widebody operation. Condor has 49 roundtrip flights in 2024, and the last departure of the season is on September 6.

Condor A330neo San Antonio launch

Photo: San Antonio International Airport

It appears to be an odd route. Perhaps it is used by military personnel and more price-sensitive point-to-point passengers traveling to/from San Antonio and Austin, about 1h 10m away. It certainly benefits from an interline agreement with Lufthansa over Frankfurt, along with ~$1.3+ million in incentives and support.

Condor served Frankfurt-Austin until 2018; Lufthansa took over the following year.

Notice ZIPAIR at San Jose

The airline is a lower-cost and wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines and uses 290-seat Boeing 787-8s, some previously operated by its parent. ZIPAIR launched Tokyo Narita-San Jose amid the pandemic in December 2022 and is San Jose’s only long-haul and widebody operator.

ZIPAIR Boeing 787-8 at San Jose International Airport

Photo: San Jose International Airport

It was not always this way at San Jose. Examining 2018 to 2023 shows that much has changed:

  • Until 2018, there was Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Air China to Shanghai Pudong, and Hawaiian’s widebodies to Kahului.
  • Until 2019, All Nippon served Tokyo Narita and Hawaiian’s twin-aisles were used to Honolulu.
  • Until 2020, Hainan Airlines flew to Beijing Capital.
  • Until 2023, British Airways had London Heathrow flights.

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