When it comes to transatlantic flights from Europe, the routes that spring to mind are often those serving the likes of Canada and the US. However, the other side of the pond is also home to another key aviation market for the continent’s carriers, namely the Caribbean. This collection of island paradise destinations is popular with tourists throughout the year, as reflected in the number of flights.
Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that, this December, 3,275 flights are operating between Europe and the Caribbean, offering 1,078,806 seats and 4,791,449,178 available seat miles (ASMs) in the process. For the calendar year as a whole, 2024 has seen 32,757 flights, 10,817,430 seats, and 48,110,848,717 ASMs scheduled between Europe and the Caribbean. But which airlines have the most?
BA leads the way
When it comes to the number of flights operated between Europe and the Caribbean, British Airways
sits at the top of the list. This December, the UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member has scheduled 422 sectors on its various routes between Europe and the Caribbean, with these services collectively offering grand totals of 120,214 seats (285 per flight) and 503,500,214 available seat miles.
The most frequently served of these corridors, and the only one with an average of more than one flight a day, connects London Heathrow (LHR) with Grantley Adams International (BGI) in Bridgetown, Barbados. British Airways has scheduled 61 flights in each direction on this route in December, using the mid-sized Boeing
787-9 (nine rotations) and the stretched Boeing 787-10 ‘Dreamliner’ (52 rotations).
Meanwhile, BA serves the Bahamas on a daily basis, with 31 flights in each direction between its main hub at London Heathrow Airport and Lynden Pindling International (NAS) in Nassau. These flights use aircraft from British Airways’ fleet of Boeing 777 widebody twinjets, which is also the case for its 22 return trips between London Heathrow and L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA) in Bermuda.
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A good deal of BA’s Caribbean traffic also operates out of its secondary base at London Gatwick Airport. Once again using aircraft from the Boeing 777 family, the UK flag carrier flies from this facility to Antigua (30 rotations), Saint Lucia (30 rotations), Punta Cana (13 rotations), Kingston (12 rotations), and Port of Spain (12 rotations). While not originating in Europe, BA also serves these intra-Caribbean routes:
- Antigua to Aruba (AUA) and Saint Kitts (SKB).
- Nassau to Grand Cayman (GCM) and Providenciales (PLS).
- Saint Lucia to Georgetown (GEO), Grenada (GND), and Tobago (TAB).
Air France has the most seats
Next on the list is French flag carrier Air France, with the SkyTeam founding member having scheduled 394 flights on routes between Europe and the Caribbean this December. However, while it lags behind British Airways by this metric, it comfortably outperforms the UK’s national airline in terms of seat availability and ASMs, with collective totals for December of 155,824 and 668,980,112.
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Much like British Airways’ Caribbean operations out of London, Air France also uses two different airports in the French capital city of Paris in order to serve its flights to the region. The top route by frequency serves the planespotting paradise that is Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) on the island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, with 48 flights in each direction operated by the Airbus
A330-200.
Air France also demonstrates parallels to British Airways’ Caribbean operations through its preference for aircraft from the popular Boeing 777 family on these routes. Indeed, these twinjets serve the remainder of its Caribbean network, with Fort de France in Martinique (FDF) and Point a Pitre in Guadeloupe (PTP) seeing daily rotations from Paris CDG. Meanwhile, CDG also has 25 rotations to Havana (HAV).
Such is the demand for Air France’s flights from Paris to Martinique and Guadeloupe that the carrier also serves Fort de France and Point a Pitre from Paris Orly Airport (ORY). Once again, these routes are served on a daily basis using the Boeing 777-300ER, with the French flag carrier favoring a high-density 472-seat layout. Away from Europe, Air France also has a short-haul Caribbean network, including:
- Cayenne, French Guiana (CAY) – Fort de France.
- Point a Pitre – Fort de France, Miami (MIA), and Montréal (YUL).
Condor also has more than 300 flights a month
German leisure carrier Condor is the third and final airline with more than 300 passenger flights scheduled between Europe and the Caribbean in December 2024. The airline uses its colorful Airbus A330-900s from the next-generation A330neo series to operate all of its flights to the region, with aeroLOPA showing that these aircraft have 30 business class, 64 premium economy, and 216 economy seats.
This month, Condor has scheduled 306 flights on its routes to and from the Caribbean, collectively offering grand totals of 94,860 seats and 452,729,580 available seat miles. Its strategy in this regard differs somewhat from British Airways and Air France, as, rather than serving all of its Caribbean destinations from one city, Condor flies its A330-900s to the region from multiple German locations.
Frankfurt (FRA) is the home of the airline’s top Caribbean route this month, with 26 flights out to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and 31 coming back. Elsewhere in the Dominican Republic, La Romana (LRM) is also popular, with 24 rotations from Frankfurt. Other destinations with links to Frankfurt include Bridgetown, Montego Bay, Varadero, Havana, Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, Holguin, Fort de France, Antigua, and Tobago. However, flights also originate in Düsseldorf (DUS).
Condor’s Caribbean coverage from Düsseldorf is more limited, with just four routes served this December. The most popular of these connects the German city with La Romana (10 rotations), followed by Bridgetown and Montego Bay with five round trips apiece this month from Düsseldorf. The German leisure airline’s fourth and final Caribbean route from Düsseldorf serves Fort de France with two rotations.
High-density connections with Air Caraïbes
While Air Caraïbes ranks fourth in terms of the number of flights offered between Europe and the Caribbean, it would sit above Condor if measured by overall seat availability. Indeed, the 296 sectors that it has scheduled on this transatlantic corridor in December of 2024 collectively offer grand totals of 111,864 seats and 476,477,130 available seat miles, averaging some 388 seats per flight.
Photo: Lukas Wunderlich | Shutterstock
The airline plays the role of connecting France with the French Caribbean, and serves a huge range of destinations in the latter region. When it comes to mainland France, all of its flights use Paris Orly, with one such route connecting this facility with Fort de France in Martinique. This corridor will see 54 rotations in December, using Airbus A330 and A350 aircraft with economy-heavy configurations.
Air Caraïbes’ top route between Europe and the Caribbean this December, however, is the corridor between Paris and Point a Pitre, with 64 outbound and 62 inbound flights planned. Elsewhere, Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic has near-daily coverage from Paris Orly, with 23 rotations planned. Meanwhile, lower-demand destinations with single-figure rotations include Santo Domingo and San Salvador.
TUI’s Boeing 787s even serve regional airports
Thus far, the routes covered have generally served major hub airports on the European side of things. However, for British leisure carrier TUI Airways, there is considerable diversity among the UK airports that are handling its 284 Caribbean flights (offering 91,846 seats and 393,211,098 available seat miles) this month. The carrier’s aircraft of choice on these routes are the Boeing 787-8 and 787-9.
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Of course, the usual suspects dominate the top routes, with Birmingham (BHX), London Gatwick, and Manchester (MAN) all having more than 10 rotations on routes to destinations such as Bridgetown and Punta Cana. However, arguably more interesting than these are the smaller UK airports where TUI operates Caribbean routes on a more limited basis. Among the most notable examples of these are:
- Bournemouth (BOH) – Bridgetown (one rotation).
- Edinburgh (EDI) – Bridgetown (one rotation).
- Glasgow (GLA) – Bridgetown (two rotations) and La Romana (one rotation).
- Newcastle – Bridgetown (one rotation).
The best of the rest
Another UK airline with a large presence in the Caribbean this December is Virgin Atlantic, which has scheduled 272 flights and 75,072 seats on its routes to and from the region during the month. Using aircraft from the Airbus A330, A330neo, A350, and Boeing 787 families, the carrier will primarily fly to and from London Heathrow with its Caribbean routes, but also has 18 Manchester-Bridgetown rotations.
Photo: InsectWorld | Shutterstock
Finally, Dutch flag carrier KLM is known in the Caribbean for operating its widebodies to Princess Juliana International Airport, much to the delight of planespotters. However, these flights are only one part of what is a considerable Caribbean operation, with the airline having scheduled 182 flights between Europe and the region this month, also serving Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Port of Spain in the process. Recently, it also had a surprise diversion to Bermuda, as detailed here.
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