London-New York: JV share stabilises 5 years after Norwegian Air entry

British Airways' service between London Heathrow (LHR) and New York John F Kennedy (JFK) is the world's most lucrative airline revenue route. In the year to Mar-2019, it generated USD1.2 billion - the only route with revenue of more than USD1 billion, according to OAG.

More broadly, the London-New York city pair is the world's largest international route by ASKs and the largest intercontinental route by seats (and second largest of all international routes by seats). LHR-JFK (London Heathrow-New York JFK) is the largest international airport pair by ASKs and the largest intercontinental airport pair by seats.

London-New York is dominated by two antitrust-immune joint ventures.

British Airways/American's share is 48.7% and Virgin Atlantic/Delta's share is 28.4%, according to data from OAG. Norwegian's share has grown to 10.0% from a standing start in 2014. The JVs, particularly Virgin/Delta's, have lost share since Norwegian entered, but this is now stabilising. Moreover, Virgin and Delta plan to upgauge on LHR-JFK and to add a JFK service from London Gatwick (LGW), operated by Virgin, in 2020.

This report presents CAPA's analysis of OAG capacity data on the London-New York market, examining growth and seat share by airport pair, airline, and joint venture.