According to the US Department of Transportation T-100 data, 
Emirates
carried 2,995,757 US passengers in the 12 months to June 2024—more than 8,200 passengers daily. It filled 77% of seats, just below the airline’s network average.
It had too many seats available, not helped by usually very large-capacity aircraft. While not a like-for-like comparison, so caution must be exercised, the DOT shows that 
Qatar Airways
filled 91% of available seats, 
Etihad Airways
89%, and Turkish Airlines
85%.
Emirates’ US network
The 12 US airports to see the Middle East giant’s passenger jets are as follows. Obviously, New York JFK was very firmly number one, with the carrier having a triple daily Airbus A380 service: double daily non-stop and daily via Milan Malpensa.
JFK had one in four of Emirates’ US passengers. More people flew between JFK and Dhaka (via Dubai) than anywhere else, with the Bangladeshi capital no longer served by Biman Bangladesh. JFK-Dhaka is among the US’s largest unserved markets.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Houston had the lowest load
According to the DOT, six of the 12 airports had an above-average seat load factor. As always, this is only one performance element and should not really be considered in isolation from other factors. With just 68% of seats filled, Houston Intercontinental was the worst performer in this sense, although it may have done better for fares and yields. It operated daily on the 484-seat A380.
|
Dubai to/from… |
Roundtrip passengers (year to June 2024) |
Seat load factor |
# connecting destination |
|---|---|---|---|
|
New York JFK |
787,902 |
81% |
Dhaka |
|
San Francisco |
257,437 |
76% |
Bengaluru |
|
Los Angeles |
253,458 |
73% |
Delhi |
|
Houston Intercon. |
236,033 |
68% |
Mumbai |
|
Washington Dulles |
230,138 |
78% |
Hyderabad |
|
Chicago O’Hare |
205,757 |
87% |
Hyderabad |
|
Newark |
196,966 |
82% |
Hyderabad |
|
Boston |
182,974 |
77% |
Mumbai |
|
Dallas/Fort Worth |
182,583 |
81% |
Hyderabad |
|
Seattle |
172,228 |
80% |
Delhi |
|
Miami |
162,930 |
69%* |
Mumbai (Manila was a close second) |
|
Orlando |
127,361 |
76% |
Mumbai (Manila was a close second) |
|
* Flights continued to Bogotá in June 2024, helping with loads |
Image: GCMap
A look at Emirates at Newark
While Emirates offers a triple daily service to JFK, it also serves Newark daily. It has flown to New Jersey since March 2017, with flights operating via Athens in both directions. A second daily service—non-stop in both directions—existed between June 2018 and March 2020 before returning to its one-stop-only service.
Photo: Omar F Martinez | Shutterstock
In the 12 months to June 2024, the 356-seat Boeing 777-300ER continued to serve Newark daily via Athens. The route had nearly 197,000 roundtrip passengers, and 82% of seats were filled.
Most people only went to Athens
Unsurprisingly, booking data shows that most Newark passengers (seven in 10) flew to/from Athens. Most people did not fly between Newark and Dubai or beyond the UAE hub, the latter necessitating a longer, more tiresome, and less competitive two-stop option. They flew with a different airline from New Jersey or went to JFK instead.