Logan Airport Flights and Airlines Discussion

[737900er]

It's an actual percentage based on dividing the number of passengers by the number of seats offered. So it accounts for differences in air craft used. I cannot say that all of these numbers are 100% accurate because I believe a lot of it is based on airlines reporting, but these numbers at the very least are a good approximation of the number of passengers and associated load factors.

It should go without saying that a load factor does not give a proper indication of a route's financial performance. Boston and London are two of the world's largest financial centers (London is typically in the top 3, Boston is typically in the top 3 in North America) so you're going to have a lot of business traffic filling up the business and first class cabins. Coupled with cargo, you could very well make a profit flying a route at 40-60% load factor and I am sure there are plenty of carriers who do so.

Unless someone works for an airline, or a consultant who works with airlines, no one will ever know the load factors on specific classes. You can make some guesses on the yield based on the fares, but that would take a lot of time to aggregate the data.

BOS-LHR isn't exactly a winner for AA, DL, or UA either just on load factor alone but they stick with it.

Of daily transatlantic flights in October 2022:

AA: Only RDU-LHR has a lower load factor than BOS-LHR
DL: Only DTW-MUC and SLC-LHR have lower load factors than BOS-LHR
UA: BOS-LHR has the lowest load factor of all daily UA transatlantic flights

There's a reason DL and UA use their premium-heavy configurations on that flight.

 

[737900er]

I downloaded the passenger numbers from DOT for September-November for international markets from Logan. Here are some selections. Number of flights would be both directions combined.

Not listed here, but Westjet really seemed to be doing ok on BOS-YYZ load factors . I wonder if we'll see them come back with AA out of the picture again.

 

[mass88]

Not listed here, but Westjet really seemed to be doing ok on BOS-YYZ load factors . I wonder if we'll see them come back with AA out of the picture again.

I wouldn't be surprised if they did bring back service to Toronto (they hit 80.92% lf in 2022). WestJet had success on their seasonal service to Calgary they launched last year. It ran from late June through Early September and saw 91.52% load factor. This year, they began the seasonal service last week and it's running through the beginning of October, essentially doubling its season run in 2023 vs. 2022.

Air Canada hit 89.21% load factor on their season service to Vancouver.

 

[Lrfox]

I did a short stay in London this past weekend (leave Thurs, return Sun) and tried B6 on the BOS-LHR route for the first time. Great service (better hard and soft economy product than competitors), but flights were only about ~60% full to my eye. I had a row to myself each way. MINT looked pretty full on the BOS-LHR leg, but only about 2/3 full on the LHR-BOS leg.

 

[mass88]

Avianca NW23 US Frequency Changes – 21MAY23 — AeroRoutes

Published at 0600GMT 23MAY23 Avianca since late-March 2023 gradually filed various frequency changes to the US for Northern winter 2023/24 season. Based on schedule listing comparison 26MAR23 vs 21MAY23, planned changes from 29OCT23 as follows. Bogota – Boston eff 29OCT23 Increase from 4 to

www.aeroroutes.com

Avianca is going to increase its Bogota to Boston service from 4 weekly frequencies up to 5 weekly frequencies effective October 29, 2023.

 

[mass88]

IBERIA NW23 Americas Frequency Expansion – 23MAY23 — AeroRoutes

Published at 0800GMT 24MAY23 Iberia in Northern winter 2023/24 season plans to increase frequencies on selected service to The Americas. Based on schedule comparison 26MAR23 vs 21MAY23 (South America frequency changes filed during the week of 15MAY23’s schedule update), planned changes as follow.

www.aeroroutes.com

Iberia is increasing service to Madrid for the winter 2023/2024 season. Effective October 29, 2023 (when their winter schedule begins) they are increasing service from 3 times a week to 5 times a week.

TAP Air Portugal NW23 Intercontinental Network Changes – 23MAY23 — AeroRoutes

Published at 0900GMT 24MAY23 TAP Air Portugal since April 2023 gradually filed initial changes to its planned Northern winter 2023/24 operation on intercontinental routes. Based on schedule comparison 26MAR23 vs 23MAY23, planned changes include the following. Lisbon – Boston eff 29OCT23 Incre

www.aeroroutes.com

TAP Air Portugal is increasing service to Lisbon for the winter 2023/24 season. Effective October 29, 2023 (when their winter schedule begins) they are increasing service from 10 times a week to 11 times a week.

 

[mass88]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1662280706305986560

United is ending it's service to London - Heathrow. Last flight will be October 28.

 

[stellarfun]

United launched the flight in 2022 and utilized a Boeing 767-300 with just 57 economy seats. The rest were in business class or premium economy.

But the competition and the lower airfares proved too much for United. The market is served by at least five other airlines including budget carrier Norse, which also flies to London, but uses a different airport at London Gatwick. Many people also used the United flight as a stopping point for other places in Europe, though United has not announced any further cuts to European cities from Boston. That includes a popular route to Dublin, Ireland.

But apparently, United was losing market share from Boston to London to both American and Delta. Both airlines also enjoy partnerships, respectively, with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic to London. Even with a daily nonstop flight, United could not compete with the array of options from competing airlines.

This was United's only transatlantic flight from an airport that wasn’t part of its hub system.

The airline has not announced whether it will replace the Boston to London route with another.

https://www.travelpulse.com/News/Airlines-Airports/United-Airlines-to-Drop-an-International-Route

 

[737900er]

I'm a little surprised they didn't hold out until the A321XLRs were around, but I think it was their worst performing transatlantic route in terms of load. I think the theory that lack of BOS-LHR hurts sales on other routes isn't totally wild.