By Niccolo Conte
In 2024, a record 4.7 billion people are projected to travel by air—200 million more than in 2019.
While revenues surged to an estimated $896 billion globally last year, airlines face extremely slim margins. On average, they made just $5.44 in net profit per passenger in 2023. Today, the industry faces pressures from high interest rates, supply chain woes, and steep infrastructure costs.
This graphic shows the highest earning flight routes worldwide, based on data from OAG.
The Top Revenue-Generating Routes in 2023
Below, we show the airline routes with the highest revenues in the first half of 2023:
| Route | Airport Codes | Revenue H1 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney to Melbourne | SYD-MEL | $1.21B |
| New York to London | JFK-LHR | $1.15B |
| Riyadh to Jeddah | RUH-JED | $1.03B |
| Dubai to Riyadh | DXB-RUH | $990M |
| Los Angeles to New York | LAX-JFK | $801M |
| San Francisco to Newark | SFO-EWR | $722M |
| Newark to Los Angeles | EWR-LAX | $682M |
| Singapore to Sydney | SIN-SYD | $650M |
| New York to Paris | JFK-CDG | $647M |
| Perth to Melbourne | PER-MEL | $642M |
As we can see, domestic flights comprised six of the 10 largest revenue-generating flights, with Sydney to Melbourne ranking first overall, at $1.21 billion.
In fact, this route is earning more than twice that of pre-pandemic levels, even as the number of passengers declined. The flight route is largely dominated by Qantas and Virgin Australia, with Qantas achieving record-breaking domestic earnings margins of 18% in the fiscal year ending in June 2023. Lower fuel costs and soaring ticket prices were key factors in driving revenues.
Furthermore, Qantas and Virgin Australia are major carriers for flights between Melbourne and Perth, another top-earning route.
New York to London, one of the busiest and most profitable routes globally, generated $1.15 billion in revenues, representing a 37% increase compared to the same period in 2019. Overall, the flight route had 3.88 million scheduled airline seats for the full year of 2023.
The highest revenue increase over this period was for flights from Dubai to Riyadh, with revenues surging 416% year-over-year. This two-hour flight, a highly lucrative route between major financial centers, is one of the busiest in the Middle East.
Source: Visual Capitalist
