Summary
- Gatwick-JFK can have five each day flights this summer, pushing London-JFK to twenty-eight each day.
- Non-alliance carriers Norse Atlantic and JetBlue can have 18% of London departures, Delta and Virgin Atlantic 36%, and British Airways and American 46%.
- Norse’s 338-seat 787-9s have the best capability per flight, followed closely by BA’s Gatwick-configured 777-200ERs and Virgin’s A350-1000s.
London to Latest York JFK can have a record 28 each day flights this summer. (I even have excluded Newark in this text.) It was to have been 27 each day with the arrival of Virgin’s seventh flight from London Heathrow in May 2024. But as Norse has doubled Gatwick-JFK, partly due to cutting other routes from its network, the market has more services than ever.
Record five each day flights from Gatwick
Starting on May 1st from the UK, the three,470-mile (5,584 km) market to JFK can have probably the most departures thus far – unless something changes within the meantime. Until now, the record was 4 each day.
More Cuts: Boston & Washington Dulles Exit Norse Atlantic’s Network
But, London Gatwick-JFK flights have doubled.
It is difficult to imagine that there have been zero services – not one – between 2010 and 2013. Until 2023, there had never been 4 operators either, with Delta returning to Gatwick in April 2023 after a 15-year absence with a each day 767-300ER operation. It joined British Airways (each day 777-200ER), JetBlue (began in September 2021; each day A321LR), and Norse Atlantic (began in August 2022; soon rises to twice each day 787-9).
Inevitably, it raises the query of sustainability. This has already been seen within the always-hard-to-make-work winter. Delta is running summer-seasonally, BA has no flights between January eighth and February ninth, and JetBlue – which had double each day services in winter 2023 – is now each day. What happens to Norse’s second service in winter 2024 stays to be seen.
Photo: London Gatwick Airport
28 each day London-JFK departures
As of January eighth, the next are all scheduled and bookable. Again, it excludes Newark. Non-alliance carriers Norse and JetBlue can have just 18% of exits. Not even one in five flights can be by a non-alliance operator, such is the heavy control oneworld and SkyTeam have over the market.
Heathrow-JFK departures (each way) |
Gatwick-JFK departures (each way) |
Total (each way) |
|
---|---|---|---|
American |
4 |
0 |
4 |
British Airways |
8 |
1 |
9 |
Delta |
2 |
1 |
3 |
JetBlue |
2 |
1 |
3 |
Norse |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Virgin |
7 |
0 |
7 |
Total |
23 |
5 |
28 |
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
Snapshot: June 1st, 2024
As an example of activity, consider Saturday, June 1st to JFK. As that is designed as an instance the size and nature of activity, aircraft types and flight times may vary on other days.
- 08:20: Heathrow, Virgin, VS3, A330neo
- 08:20: Heathrow, BA, BA117, 777-200ER
- 08:25: Heathrow, JetBlue, B62220, A321LR
- 09:45: Heathrow, BA, BA175, 777-300ER
- 09:55: Heathrow, Virgin, VS47, A330neo
- 10:05: Heathrow, American, AA101, 777-300ER
- 10:30: Gatwick, JetBlue, B644, A321LR
- 10:50: Heathrow, Delta, DL2, 767-400ER
- 11:40: Heathrow, BA, BA 173, 777-300ER
- 11:55: Heathrow, JetBlue, B620, A321LR
- 12:00: Gatwick, Delta, DL63, 767-300ER
- 12:50: Gatwick, Norse, Z0701, 787-9
- 12:55: Heathrow, Virgin, VS25, A350-1000
- 13:20: Heathrow, BA, BA177, 777-300ER
- 13:55: Heathrow, Virgin, VS9, A330neo
- 14:40: Heathrow, BA, BA 115, 777-300ER
- 15:05: Gatwick, BA, BA2273, 777-200ER
- 15:15: Heathrow, American, AA105, 777-300ER
- 16:20: Heathrow, Virgin, VS153, A330-300
- 16:20: Heathrow, BA, BA113, 777-300ER
- 17:00: Heathrow, American, AA107, 777-300ER
- 17:50: Heathrow, Delta, DL4, A330neo
- 18:05: Heathrow, BA, BA179, 777-300ER
- 18:25: Heathrow, Virgin, VS137, A350-1000
- 19:05: Heathrow, BA, BA183, 777-200ER
- 19:55: Heathrow, American, AA141, 777-200ER
- 20:05: Heathrow, Virgin, VS25, A350-1000
- 20:40: Gatwick, Norse, Z0703, 787-9 ← recent
What else would you wish to see occur on this market? Tell us within the comments section.