We recently discussed on the blog about the busiest route in Latin America, São Paulo Congonhas – Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont. Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras (AD/AZU), GOL Linhas Aéreas (G3/GLO) and LATAM Brasil (LA/LAN) operate in this market, offering more than 375 weekly flights. This number could be even higher if flights between other nearby airports are taken into account, which would bring the total to over 500 flights per week.
Moving on to North America, the busiest route is contested by two services in the United States, one of them being on the West Coast of the country and the other in Hawaii. With respect to the West Coast route, something similar occurs as with São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro, where the total number of weekly frequencies increases when considering the surrounding airports of both cities. On the other hand, the Hawaii route only considers flights between two islands, which is the total number of weekly services.
Los Angeles – San Francisco
In accordance with our database, the busiest route in the United States and North America, considering the number of weekly flights for point-to-point routes only, is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX/KLAX) – San Francisco International Airport (SFO/KSFO), operating around 250 flights a week. This service is performed by several U.S. airlines with a variety of aircraft types, including Airbus A319, Airbus A320, Airbus A321neo, Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900, Boeing 737 MAX, CRJ-701, Embraer 170 and Embraer 175.
Alaska Airlines (AS/ASA), American Airlines (AA/AAL), Delta Air Lines (DL/DAL), Frontier (F9/FFT), Southwest Airlines (WN/SWA) and United Airlines (UA/UAL) have operations between Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX) and San Francisco (SFO/KSFO), and many of them also serve between other nearby airports.
We also consider Avelo, which operates to Santa Rosa Sonoma County Airport (STS/KSTS) from Burbank Bob Hope Airport (BUR/KBUR), Breeze with its San Bernardino International Airport (SBD/KSBD) – San Francisco (SFO/KSFO) route, and Spirit, serving between Santa Ana John Wayne Airport (SNA/KSNA) and Oakland International Airport (OAK/KOAK).
ALASKA AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burbank (BUR) | San Francisco (SFO) | 21 | Embraer 175 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 48 | Embraer 175 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 7 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 41 | Embraer 175 |
AMERICAN AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 12 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 28 | Embraer 175 |
AVELO AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burbank (BUR) | Santa Rosa (STS) | 6 | Boeing 737-700 |
BREEZE AIRWAYS
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino (SBD) | San Francisco (SFO) | 4 | Airbus A220-300 |
DELTA AIR LINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 2 | Airbus A320-200 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 32 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 21 | Boeing 737-900 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Jose (SJC) | 48 | Embraer 170/175 |
FRONTIER
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 5 | Airbus A321neo |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 3 | Airbus A320neo |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 4 | Airbus A320neo |
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burbank (BUR) | Oakland (OAK) | 60 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Burbank (BUR) | San Jose (SJC) | 45 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | Oakland (OAK) | 16 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | Oakland (OAK) | 15 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | Oakland (OAK) | 3 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | San Jose (SJC) | 16 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | San Jose (SJC) | 5 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Long Beach (LGB) | San Jose (SJC) | 6 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Oakland (OAK) | 21 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Oakland (OAK) | 12 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | Oakland (OAK) | 11 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 14 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 5 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 6 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Jose (SJC) | 18 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Jose (SJC) | 14 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Jose (SJC) | 9 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Ontario (ONT) | Oakland (OAK) | 20 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Ontario (ONT) | Oakland (OAK) | 5 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Ontario (ONT) | Oakland (OAK) | 5 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Jose (SJC) | 22 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Jose (SJC) | 6 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | Oakland (OAK) | 43 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Jose (SJC) | 48 | Boeing 737-700 |
SPIRIT
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana (SNA) | Oakland (OAK) | 12 | Airbus A320neo |
UNITED AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burbank (BUR) | San Francisco (SFO) | 22 | Airbus A319-100 |
| Burbank (BUR) | San Francisco (SFO) | 4 | Airbus A320-200 |
| Burbank (BUR) | San Francisco (SFO) | 5 | CRJ-701 |
| Burbank (BUR) | San Francisco (SFO) | 13 | Embraer 175 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 3 | Airbus A319-100 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 13 | Airbus A320-200 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 4 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 15 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 8 | Boeing 737-900 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 17 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 7 | Boeing 737 MAX 9 |
| Los Angeles (LAX) | San Francisco (SFO) | 2 | Embraer 175 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 3 | Airbus A319-100 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 12 | Airbus A320-200 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 1 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 4 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Ontario (ONT) | San Francisco (SFO) | 1 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 6 | Airbus A319-100 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 1 | Boeing 737-700 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 7 | Boeing 737-800 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 7 | Boeing 737 MAX 8 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 7 | CRJ-700 |
| Santa Ana (SNA) | San Francisco (SFO) | 14 | Embraer 170/175 |
Honolulu – Kahului
Following with the second route, Honolulu International Airport (HNL/PHNL) – Kahului Airport (OGG/PHOG) is among the busiest routes in North America, as Hawaiian Airlines being the leading carrier in this market, with more than 150 flights per week, all operated by 128-seat Boeing 717-200 aircraft. Southwest Airlines also serves flights between the two cities, using Boeing 737 MAX 8s, which have 47 more seats.
Aloha Air Cargo operates around 30 weekly flights on the Honolulu-Kahului route with Boeing 737-300(F) and Boeing 737-400(F) aircraft. The airline has four 737-300s, two 737-400s and two 767-300s in its fleet, and plans to add another 737-400 in the near future.
Furthermore, United Parcel Service (UPS) provides the Ontario (ONT/KONT) – Kahului (OGG/PHOG) – Honolulu (HNL/PHNL) – Lihue (LIH/PLIH) – San Bernardino (SBD/KSBD) route, three to four times weekly on Boeing 767-300(F) aircraft.
HAWAIIAN AIRLINES AND SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
| From | To | Weekly flights | Airline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honolulu (HNL) | Kahului (OGG) | 160 | Hawaiian |
| Honolulu (HNL) | Kahului (OGG) | 55 | Southwest |
As for the airports mentioned in this post, Honolulu (HNL/PHNL), Kahului (OGG/PHOG), Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX) and San Francisco (SFO/KSFO), LAX is the largest airport of the four in terms of daily flights, as well as international and domestic connections.
LAX
Los Angeles (LAX/KLAX) has more than 800 departures a day on average, considering domestic, international, passenger and cargo flights. In the last month, according to our database, the record was set on July 18th, with more than 890 departures performed.
SFO
San Francisco International Airport (SFO/KSFO) has about 600 daily departures, with July 18th being the busiest day of the last month with a total of 625 departures.
We crossed the Pacific Ocean to get to Hawaii and talk about its two main airports, Honolulu International Airport (HNL/PHNL) and Kahului International Airport (OGG/PHOG).
HNL
Honolulu, Hawaii’s busiest airport, has more than 270 departures per day, sometimes surpassing 300 flights, as was the case on June 17th, 18th, 19th, 26th and 27th, and July 2nd, 9th, 10th, 11th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd, being the record reached on July 18th with 320 departures. During the last month, the airport exceeded 8,300 departures, including passengers, cargo and special services.
OGG
Kahului Airport has nearly 3,000 monthly flights, mostly domestic, as it is also connected to Calgary and Vancouver in Canada by WestJet. Hawaiian Airlines is the airport’s main operator, with routes within the United States. Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and Southern Airways Express, the latter a Hawaiian airline with Cessna aircraft, also operate at OGG.
Between South America and North America, this is the top of the busiest routes:
- São Paulo CGH – Rio de Janeiro SDU: +375 weekly flights
- Los Angeles LAX – San Francisco SFO: +245 weekly flights
- Honolulu HNL – Kahului OGG: +220 weekly flights
In a separate post we will soon talk about another of the busiest routes in the United States, which sometimes has more flights than HNL-OGG and is usually close to LAX-SFO: Chicago O’Hare – New York La Guardia.
Cover photo: © Bastian Ding – JetPhotos (Los Angeles Int’l Airport – KLAX – October 2017)
