The 10 best long-haul routes in the USA that are not served

In the year ending July 2024, there were an estimated 113 million in the United States Long distance passengers, which equates to almost 155,000 passengers daily each way. This determination is based on examination of booking data available through the OAG Traffic Analyzer. The US-UK was the largest market, followed by Italy, Japan, India and Germany.

Regardless of where they were flying, six out of 10 people had to change flights en route. Of the top 50 country markets in the US, all were linked to Thailand, Hungary, Indonesia and Pakistan. These had 500,000 to 1.1 million passengers. Of course, size alone doesn’t mean they’re suitable for nonstop flights.

Approximately 80% or more of passengers traveling to/from nine nations transited en route: Czech Republic, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden and Vietnam.

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The 10 largest unserviced long-haul routes

The following table summarizes them. Several routes have already been served and others have been announced, although nothing has been confirmed yet, which is a recurring problem.

Just ask Air India about Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Seattle, which have been rumored for some time. While only one made the list, the others weren’t far off.

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They have a lot in common

On a great circle basis, the average length of the 10 airport pairs is 6,432 nautical miles (11,895 km). Lots of them They cover a considerable distance, sometimes even in the ultra-long distance range.

They all have good point-to-point passenger numbers, but as usual there are plenty of one-stop options via any number of turnstiles. Despite the traffic, if any of these services were started (or restarted), the traffic from uninterrupted service would increase.

Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock

A recurring problem with such routes is the relative lack of premium traffic. In fact, they typically revolve around demand from vacationers and visiting friends and family.

This almost always means that average fares are relatively low, although an airline might charge a small premium for the convenience of nonstop service. Combined with the distance, this means quite low yields, which is exactly what is not necessary for such operations.

What about Miami?

The average base fare from Miami to Milan is $567 one-way (all passengers in all cabins, excluding everything else), 14% less than the $662 Boston-Milan fare, which begins next summer after April 17 -year absence is reintroduced.

Despite Boston’s higher average, 23% fewer routes are traveled, significantly reducing costs. Yet Miami has twice as many passengers, plus all potential passengers traveling to/from South America and beyond.