United has ramped up its seat capacity by 31% compared to 2019, surpassing Delta and becoming the main airline connecting the US to Europe for the summer.
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Barring any cancellations, there will be 3% more seats on flights from US to Europe this summer than in 2019.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have the most scheduled seats, with over 9 million each.
Turkish Airlines has ramped up its US-Europe capacity by 78% since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Airlines connecting the US and destinations in Europe hope the skies over the Atlantic will be as busy as they were before the pandemic this summer.
There are nearly 60 million seats on routes between Europe and the US scheduled for the summer season as of May 1, according to data sent to Insider by aviation data provider OAG. Barring any cancellations, that would constitute a 3% increase in capacity compared to the summer of 2019, and a 15% increase compared to last year.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have scheduled the most seats by far, with a little over 9 million each, and capacity increases compared to 2019 of 31% and 13%, respectively.
With over 2.5 million seats, Turkish Airlines has increased its scheduled capacity by 78% compared to pre-pandemic times.
See the top 10 airlines connecting Europe and the US by scheduled seat capacity for summer 2023:
10. KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines: 1.6 million
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That's a 2% increase compared to the summer of 2019, but less than last year, when it had a seating capacity of nearly 1.8 million.
9. Aer Lingus: 2.1 million
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The Irish carrier increased its capacity by 21% compared to the summer of 2019.
8. Turkish Airlines: 2.6 million
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No airline has increased its connection between Europe and the US as much as Turkish Airlines, which has a scheduled capacity for 2023 — 78% higher than what it had in the summer of 2022.
7. Virgin Atlantic Airways: 3 million
Airbus
That's a 7% decrease compared to the summer of 2019, when the airline had a seating capacity of a little over 3.2 million, but a recovery compared to 2022, when it had a capacity of 2.7 million seats.
6. Air France: 3.2 million
Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP, Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
That's a 6% increase compared to the summer of 2019 when the airline had a seating capacity of a little over 3 million.
5. Deutsche Lufthansa AG: 3.8 million
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The German airline has lost a lot of seats compared to the summer of 2019 when it had 4.7 million. Of the top 10 airlines, it's the one with the biggest drop in summer capacity — a 19% decrease.
4. British Airways: 5.8 million
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The British carrier increased its capacity by 2% compared to the summer of 2019.
3. American Airlines: 6.8 million
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There's been almost no change in American Airlines seating capacity for flights between the US and Europe between the summer of 2019 and that of 2023, and only a slight increase compared to last year, when the airline had a seating capacity of 6.2 million.
2. Delta Air Lines: 9 million
AP Photo/Brynn Anderson
That's a 13% increase compared to the summer of 2019 when the airline had a seating capacity of nearly 8 million.
United Airlines: 9.2 million
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United has ramped up its capacity by 31%, surpassing Delta and becoming the biggest airline connecting the US to Europe for the summer.
