According to data from “Cirium, an aviation analytics company“, the aircraft types mostly used for flights between the US and Europe for September 2024 are the widebodies of the Airbus and Boeing families.
The most commonly used aircraft type between the US and Europe operates almost eight thousand flights, offering almost two million seats. Let’s dive deeper into the details behind these numbers and analyze the aircraft mostly operated between Europe and the US.
Photo: Ceri Breeze | Shutterstock
5
Airbus A350
The aircraft with under 4,000 flights
|
Number of flights |
3,297 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
1,059,133 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
4,963,524,615 |
The Airbus A350
was launched by Airbus after the end of the Airbus A380
program. The
aircraft was designed to compete with
the Boeing 787
, an aircraft that will feature later in this article. The Airbus A350 is said to be an aircraft that lies somewhere between the Boeing 787 and the Boeing 777
, which is another aircraft that we will discuss later.
Photo: Soos Jozsef l Shutterstock
The Airbus A350 is deployed by a number of carriers in the US and Europe for transcontinental flights. These include:
4
Boeing 767
Offering the least seats and available seat miles
The Boeing 767
was developed alongside the Boeing 757
and was an aircraft
designed to cater to the needs of intercontinental flights
. And currently, the aircraft ranks fourth among aircraft that will offer the most flights between the US and Europe in September.
|
Number of flights |
4,241 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
893,948 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
3,444,195,556 |
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Although the aircraft has close to a thousand more flights than the Airbus A350, almost a hundred thousand fewer seats are available on the 767. Further, the number of ASMs on US-Europe flights on the Boeing 767 is also lower than the A350. The ASMs on the Boeing 767s are also two to three times fewer than other aircraft of the Boeing family that will feature on the list.
3
Boeing 787
A few years ago, the Boeing 787 was
the top aircraft for transcontinental flights
. However, this year, particularly for the month of September, the plane has slid to third position.
|
Number of flights |
6,262 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
1,742,555 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
7,975,932,355 |
Photo: Unaccompanied Media | Shutterstock
The aircraft offers almost 2,000 more seats than the Boeing 767. The number of seats offered and the ASMs are almost two times greater. Let’s take a look at the number in greater detail:
|
Aircraft |
September US-Europe one-way flights |
% of flights |
Top three operators (by services) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Boeing 787-9 |
1,649 (avg. 55 daily) |
9.7% |
American, Turkish, Virgin |
|
Boeing 787-8 |
866 (avg. 29 daily) |
5.1% |
American, United, British Airways |
Air France
(AF) and Virgin Atlantic
(VS) are two carriers from Europe that have been considered to
have the best business class on transatlantic flights
on their Boeing 787s. Virgin’s 787-9s offer premium customers an access to Clubhouse lounges, while Air France’s SkyPriority offers business customers priority services ranging from check-in to boarding.
2
Boeing 777
Two of the most popular of its variants account for the most flights
The Boeing 777
is an aircraft that has
five passenger-carrying variants
. Not all the different aircraft types of the Triple Seven family have been successful though. The Boeing 777-200ER
and the Boeing 777-300ER
have seen the highest number of orders. These are also the ones that operate the highest number of transatlantic flights.
The Boeing 777 has the second-highest number of transatlantic flights between the US and Europe in September 2024, though the number of flights is around a thousand lower than the aircraft with the highest number of flights.
|
Number of flights |
6,786 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
1,963,393 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
9,109,332,325 |
The most frequently served routes of American Airlines (one of the top three operators of this aircraft type) using the Boeing 777 either fly you to or fly out from London Heathrow Airport
(LHR). A few of the airports involving
AA’s highest number of flights to and from LHR
include:
1:23
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(Thumbnail Image: JetKat | Shutterstock)
1
Airbus A330
The only widebody family offering more than two million seats
The number of transatlantic flights offered on the Airbus A330
s for September is greater than the number of flights on the Airbus A350 and the Boeing 767 combined.
|
Number of flights |
7,786 |
|---|---|
|
Seats |
2,167,038 |
|
Available Seat Miles (ASMs) |
9,230,396,301 |
_(4359593470).jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=2)
Let’s break down these numbers even further:
ITA Airways, one of the top operators of the Airbus A330, offers one of the longest non-stop routes using this aircraft type as it
operates a 5,522-mile route between Los Angeles and Rome
. Delta Air Lines, another of the top operators of this aircraft type, offers flights to iconic cities such as Amsterdam and Barcelona, among others, on the A330s from the US.