Revealed: The world’s billion-dollar air route

In terms of revenue produced, OAG says one route breaks the billion-dollar threshold, the British Airways London Heathrow (LHR) -New York JFK service and that provided about 6% of BA’s total revenue in 2017. 

Flight information provider OAG has come up with a list of the world’s most lucrative air routes – and the airlines that fly them.

In terms of revenue produced, OAG says one route breaks the billion-dollar threshold, the British Airways London Heathrow (LHR) -New York JFK service and that provided about 6% of BA’s total revenue in 2017. 

On an hourly basis, that equates to US$24,639 that OAG says is not quite the highest hourly earner. That accolade goes to the Emirates London Heathrow-Dubai service that ranks third in the Top 10.

Five of the top ten revenue earners are either to or from London Heathrow. They include Singapore Airlines’ LHR-Singapore routes that produce revenue of US$18,253 per hour flown.

Another big revenue producer for Singapore Airline is its Sydney-Singapore route, where revenue per hour is US$19,525.

Cathay Pacific has a big earning route between Hong Kong and London Heathrow, producing total revenue of US$631.85 million at US$14,294 per hour.

All of the Top 10 routes are also high-cost operations, combining generally wide-bodied services with high frequency, in the case of Melbourne-Sydney with Qantas operating around 65 flights a day on just that one route. 

Typically, OAG says these routes, surveyed between April 2017 and March 2018, also include a high proportion of business traffic, later booking and higher yielding in nature.

Top 10 Revenue Routes Apr'17 - Mar'18