Nashville is the largest city in Tennessee, and in 2020, the Nashville metropolitan area had about two million people. The city is commonly referred to as Music City as it is home to many musicians, recording studios, and musical venues. In Fiscal Year 2023 (July 2022 – June 2023), the Nashville International Airport had its busiest year ever, with nearly 22 million passengers.
Though the largest city in the state and known as a music capital of the world, BNA does not have much international service. According to data from Cirium, in November, only five airlines are scheduled to operate international flights, only one of which has long-haul flights. It is interesting to note that of the five, the two American carriers have the least international flights. See the table below:
In the summer, data shows that Nashville’s international operations are nearly double what they will be next month. In July, five airlines scheduled 425 flights and had more than 70,301 seats available.
British Airways
Rather than go in order of market share, we will start with the longest route. British Airways launched flights from Heathrow Airport to Nashville in 2018, marking the third new US destination in a span of four years at the time. Now, in the last decade, BA has added six US destinations.
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In November, the airline has 28 flights in each direction, operating daily, except for a brief hiatus on November 24 and 25. For the 4,182-mile route, the airline deploys the smallest variant of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family, the 787-8. Data shows that aircraft with two different seating configurations are deployed, one with 214 seats and the other with 204. In total, the British carrier has 11,848 seats available in November.
When British Airways first launched its flights, the airline did not connect Nashville to London with daily flights, but after its first summer operating, decided to increase operations. Doug Kreulen, president and CEO of the airport, said the following at the time,
“British Airways launched its highly anticipated nonstop service from BNA to Heathrow Airport just five months ago, and the response and support from the community has been incredible. Now we’re adding to that by going from service five days a week to offering daily nonstop flights. This is great for Middle Tennessee, and British Airways’ investment into our community speaks volumes to the growing connection between Nashville and London.”
WestJet
WestJet is one of Canada’s largest airlines and operates more short-haul flights than long-haul. It has a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, but most of its flights are in Canada and the US with narrowbodies. In November, the airline has just 48 flights scheduled to Nashville.
Data shows that Nashville is served from three different Canadian airports: Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Calgary International Airport (YYC), and Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG). None of these routes have daily service.
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The most serviced route is from Toronto, with three weekly flights. West deploys two variants of the Boeing 737 family from Toronto, the MAX 8 and the -800. The planes deployed from Toronto have three different seating configurations. The -800s have 189 seats (all economy), 183 seats (12 premium economy and 171 economy), or 174 seats (12 premium economy and 162 economy). In November, nearly 4,400 seats are available between the cities.
Calgary only has flights to Nashville for the first two weeks of the month, operating four times weekly. WestJet deploys three variants of its 737s from Calgary: the -700, -800, and MAX 8 on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. The -700s have 132 seats (12 in premium economy and 120 in economy). The route has just over 2,600 seats available in November.
The last route is from Winnipeg and has two weekly flights during the first two weeks of the month. WestJet connects Nashville to Winnipeg on Fridays and Mondays with its -800s and MAX 8s.
Origin |
Destination |
Number of flights (roundtrip) |
Number of seats |
Distance (in miles) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Calgary |
Nashville |
16 |
2,616 |
1,701 |
Winnipeg |
Nashville |
8 |
1,392 |
1,088 |
Toronto |
Nashville |
24 |
4,380 |
641 |
Air Canada
WestJet is one of two Canadian airlines flying from Toronto to Nashville. Air Canada does the same, but typically twice-daily. The Canadian flag carrier has 58 flights in November, offering more than 9,000 seats in each direction.
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Air Canada deploys two aircraft types from Toronto to Nashville, the Airbus A321 and Airbus A220-300. The A321s have 190 seats in a two cabin configuration, 16 in business class and 174 in economy. The A220s have 137 seats, 12 in business and 125 in economy. There are two daily roundtrips on every day of November except the 19th.
Southwest Airlines
Though Southwest Airlines does not have hubs like most airlines, Nashville is an important airport for the carrier. It operates a point-to-point network rather than the typical hub-and-spoke. Though Nashville is a key part of Southwest’s network, in November, it only has one international destination.
Data shows that Southwest will serve Cancun seven times throughout the month. This breaks down to one weekly flight on Saturdays, and two extra flights on the week of Thanksgiving. On the last week of the month, Southwest has flights on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Two aircraft variants are scheduled to operate Southwest’s flights to Cancun, the -700 and MAX 8. This brings the airline’s total seat offering for November to 2,290.
American Airlines
American Airlines also has a large presence in Nashville, but, mostly through domestic services. Like Southwest, American only serves Cancun. Cirium shows that American has one weekly flight scheduled between the two cities, deploying its Boeing 737-800s with 172 seats (16 business class and 156 economy).
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock