These US Airports Had The Most Airlines In 2023

Summary

• JFK in New York City has the most diverse airline mix in the US, with 68 domestic and foreign carriers.
• NYC airports, including Newark, JFK, LaGuardia and Stewart, have a total of 75 unique passenger airlines in December 2023.
• Los Angeles International Airport is a major gateway for Asian carriers, with 21 airlines from the Asia Pacific region serving the market and 65 airlines in total.

In 2023, air traffic in the US continues the trend of post-COVID growth and key markets, including the transpacific and transatlantic, continue to recover. In terms of traffic, key hub airports tend to rank the highest but the figures on the number of airlines that operate from an airport could post a different picture. Let’s review the airports in the US with the most passenger airlines in 2023.

Ranking

The top airports in the USA for variety of airlines in 2023 were as follows:

Data: Cirium data from December 2023

Other airports with a significant number of operators include Boston Logan International Airport with 40 carriers, many from Europe, Newark with 30 carriers, Dallas with 27 and Houston just behind with 26. Orlando and Washington Dulles are tied with 35 carriers each. Outside the top 10, Atlanta is served by 22 passenger airlines and Honolulu is served by 20.

The ranking for airline diversity does not look quite the same as passenger numbers or capacity. Larger airports such as Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth are dominated by hub carriers for connection traffic and can be less appealing for other airlines to fly to unless they have a partner.

John F. Kennedy International Airport

The most diverse airport in the US is none other than JFK in New York City. The airport serves as a hub for multiple US-based carriers and is often the first destination of choice for foreign carriers, especially from Europe, when entering the North American market.

According to Cirium, the airport hosted a total of 68 domestic and foreign carriers from every inhabited continent of the world in December 2023, making it the most diverse airport by far. Both Norse Atlantic and Volaris operated under two different AOCs but were counted as a single carrier in our calculation.

Among international carriers, airlines from Europe dominate with 23 in total. For many European airlines, JFK is either their only destination or one of the very few in North America. For Brussels Airlines, JFK was its sole destination in North America in 2023 while Air Europa and AirSerbia both serve JFK as one of their only two. Next year JFK is set to welcome yet another European carrier, HiSky, from Romania.

Uzbekistan Airlines‘s flight on their Dreamliner to Tashkent is their only flight to North America. Similarly, Kenyan Airways’ daily connection to Nairobi is also their only flight to the continent. AZAL, or Azerbajian Airlines, also served JFK before discontinuing in 2019. Many of these flights are not profit-driven and are sometimes politically motivated.

Other noteworthy carriers serving JFK include Azores Airlines, which connects JFK with the Azores as well as to Porto in Portugal, and Cape Air, which connects JFK with smaller communities in the region including Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket using their Cessna 402s.

New York City

New York City’s other major international airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, also sees numerous carriers, 30 to be exact, in 2023. The vast majority of international and domestic carriers that fly into Newark also fly to JFK. There are a few exceptions, the most notable one being United Airlines’ absence from JFK.

Several other airlines also fly exclusively to Newark as well. The list includes Seoul-based Air Premia, Spirit Airlines, Paris-based French bee, all-business carrier La Compagnie and Canadian carrier Porter. In all, six carriers that fly to Newark do not serve JFK.

When combining the three major airports in the NYC area, LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty, the total number of unique carriers rises to 74. Spirit Airlines and United are the only two that fly to LaGuardia and Newark, but not JFK.

This is, however, not the end of the story. The lesser known and much smaller New York Stewart International Airport hosts Icelandic carrier Play for daily flights to Reykjavík in Iceland and Atlantic Airways for flights to the Faroe Island for around a month during the summer. Neither of these airlines fly to any other airport in New York.

LAX: gateway to Asia

Los Angeles, on the other hand, is a common access point for Asian carriers wishing to serve North America. It is often the first point of entry for East Asian carriers (though not always, Vietnam Airlines serves San Francisco exclusively due to strong diaspora ties and a shorter distance from Ho Chi Minh City).

The airport hosts a total of 21 airlines from Asia-Pacific, the most out of all airports in the US. From the Greater China Region, a whopping nine airlines serve the market, including Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern from Mainland China, Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong and Starlux, China Airlines and EVA Air from Taiwan.

From the Pacific, there are four carriers who fly to LAX. They are Qantas, Air New Zealand, Fiji Airways, and Air Tahiti Nui. Air France also flies to Papeete from Los Angeles, and Air Tahiti Nui flies a fifth freedom route to Paris.