Orlando International Airport
(MCO) is one of two major airports in the state of Florida. The city is home to Walt Disney World and other theme parks like Universal Studios and draws millions of tourists every year. In 2023, the airport had nearly 58 million passengers fly through.
There is so much demand to Orlando that seven airlines are operating flights to Europe this month. Only one of them is an American carrier, Delta Air Lines, which does not even have a hub in Florida. Between the seven airlines, there are 520 flights scheduled this month, amounting to 148,617. The breakdown per airline is shown in the table below:
Virgin Atlantic
London and Manchester
SkyTeam Alliance airlines dominate the European market in Orlando, as shown in the table above. Virgin Atlantic has 152 flights scheduled to Orlando, connecting Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London and Manchester Airport (MAN) daily. Data shows there are 12 weekly flights from London to Orlando, and one daily flight from Manchester.
Throughout the month, Virgin has a second flight from London on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Several aircraft are scheduled to operate the LHR-MCO flight, the Airbus A350-1000, A330-300, and A330-900 (A330neo). From London, the airline has nearly 28,000 seats available in November.
From Manchester, the airline has one daily flight leaving around 10:00 (the time shifts slightly on some days) and arriving at 15:00 (after the time changes in the US on Sunday). The return leg departs around 20:30 and lands before 10:00 on the following day. Like the route from London, Manchester has flights on the A330-300 and -900 (neo), and one flight on the A350-1000 tomorrow.
Delta Air Lines
Amsterdam and London
As mentioned above, Delta does not have a hub in Florida. As a matter of fact, the only airline in the ‘Big Three’ in the US that has a hub in Florida is American Airlines at Miami International Airport (MIA). But, the Atlanta-based carrier knows there is demand to Europe and has two routes operating this month.
Delta has 95 flights in November, totaling 26,755 seats. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS), home to fellow SkyTeam carrier KLM, has one daily flight, while LHR has five weekly flights. The 4,540-mile route to AMS is operated exclusively by the A330-300 with 282 seats in a three-cabin configuration.
The flight to Heathrow is operated exclusively by the A330neo with 281 seats in a three-cabin configuration. Though the neo only has one fewer seat than the A330-300, there are eight more seats in Delta One (business class) on it.
Discover Airlines
Frankfurt
Discover Airlines is part of the Lufthansa Group but is not a Star Alliance member. The low cost carrier operates flights to Lufthansa’s main hub in Frankfurt and has ten weekly flights scheduled to Orlando this month. There are two flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
According to Cirium, the flights from Frankfurt Airport (FRA) to Orlando are operated by its Airbus A330-300 and A330-200s. These aircraft have four different configurations with 244 seats, 270, 283, and 302. In November, the airline has 76 flights scheduled totaling 21,366 seats.
British Airways
London
Next on the list is British Airways which also operates flights to… London. Though British Airways also serves London, different from Virgin Atlantic and Delta, it does not connect Orlando to Heathrow, at least not for the most part. Data shows there are daily flights from Gatwick Airport (LGW) and one sole flight from Heathrow on Sunday.
In November, British Airways will deploy its Boeing 777s with 336/332 seats to Orlando. The 777s have 32 business class seats, 48/52 in premium economy, and 252 in economy. With one daily flight from Gatwick and the one-off flight from Heathrow, there are 61 flights totaling 20,459 seats in November.
Aer Lingus
Manchester and Dublin
Aer Lingus, Ireland’s flag carrier, operates flights to the US from several cities, with two of its primary hubs at Dublin Airport (DUB) and Manchester. In November, both of these cities are connected to Orlando. Dublin has four weekly flights, while Manchester has three.
Both routes are operated by the airline’s Airbus A330-300s with 317 seats in a two-cabin configuration. This amounts to more than 10,000 seats from Dublin and just over 8,000 from Manchester.
Icelandair
Reykjavik
Icelandair is Iceland’s flag carrier and connects Iceland to Greenland, Europe, and the US. The airline has a free stopover program, allowing passengers to stay between one day and one week. This month, the airline has 50 flights scheduled from
Keflavík International Airport (KEF) which serves Reykjavik. This totals nearly 8,483 seats.
According to data, Icelandair deploys two aircraft types from Iceland to Orlando, the Boeing 757-200 and 737 MAX 8. There are five weekly flights in each direction with various block times. The flight to KEF is blocked at 7h20m, while the flight to MCO is either eight hours or 8h20m.
Norse Atlantic Airways
London
Norse Atlantic Airways is a low-cost carrier based in Norway, with another division operating in the United Kingdom (UK). The airline operates flights to the US from cities like Oslo, London, Paris, Rome, and Athens. In November, the airline has nonstop flights scheduled from LGW to Orlando.
Data shows that flights operate on the Boeing 787-9 thrice weekly. These aircraft have 338 seats in a two-cabin configuration, with 56 in premium economy and 282 in economy. There are 26 total flights in November, amounting to 8,788 seats.