A growing number of passengers are bypassing busy major airports and flying directly, as airlines take advantage of new aircraft to redraw their networks.
Since the dawn of the jet age, airlines have operated large, fuel-hungry aircraft on the busiest intercontinental routes. These connect large airports, before passengers transfer to smaller aircraft to connect across the region.
But advances in aircraft technology have put this “axial” model under pressure.
Airlines can now use smaller, more efficient single-aisle aircraft, normally associated with shorter flights, on long-haul flights, opening up direct routes that were not economical with larger aircraft.
Passengers flying on United Airlines across the Atlantic next summer will be able to take direct flights from the U.S. East Coast to destinations including Bilbao in Spain, Palermo in Italy and even Greenland.
“Smaller, fuel-efficient aircraft like the Boeing 737 MAX 8 have enabled new nonstop service to the thriving specialty leisure destinations accessible from the U.S. East Coast,” said Patrick Coyle, senior vice president of global network planning and alliances at United Airlines.
“Our point-to-point portfolio benefits from growing interest in diverse European regions,” he said.
Other senior airline executives said that while the main airport was not dead, passengers were eager to bypass larger airports, in part because of the disruption that has swept through many busy airports since the pandemic.
“We hear that some passengers are avoiding very large hubs… as there are delays,” said Bogi Nils Bogason, CEO of Icelandair.
The changes have transformed how passengers use large airports over the past decade.
Of the people who traveled through 10 of the world's busiest international airports last year, 55 percent were traveling directly to their destination, rather than connecting flights. This was up from roughly 50-50 in 2015, according to a Financial Times analysis of data from OAG, an aviation analytics firm.
This trend is set to be reinforced by the arrival of the long-range single-aisle Airbus A320 family aircraft, which offers a jump in performance. The plane made its first commercial flight in November.
The A321XLR can carry up to 244 passengers and has a maximum range of 4,700 nautical miles (8,700 km) or 11 flight hours, thanks to the addition of an additional fuel tank in the hold that can hold around 12,900 liters of kerosene. This compares to the older A320, which has a maximum range of 3,400 nautical miles.
European low-cost carrier Wizz Air plans to use XLR to connect the UK to Saudi Arabia on all-economy flights, while Aer Lingus and Iberia will fly the aircraft across the Atlantic.
Christian Scherer, head of Airbus's commercial aircraft division, said the arrival of the
“Even though it is a derivative of the 321, the fact that it opens up a whole new[range of]possibilities in that aircraft size class is huge,” he told the Financial Times.
Icelandair's Bogason said the arrival of the XLR “will create new opportunities.” “We can fly to North America on a very fuel-efficient narrow-body aircraft.”
The airline is considering flights to Texas, California and Dubai from its hub in Reykjavik when the planes arrive.
“When the cost is lower, it's less risky to start something new,” he said.
Airline and airport executives agree that hub airports will continue to play an important role in aviation networks, as the most efficient way to connect large numbers of people and operate high-frequency flights on popular routes.
“Our centers will continue to play a vital role in our network,” United's Coyle said.
London Heathrow Airport said in December it expected his arrival The busiest holiday periodWith a record number of travelers recorded this month.
But even the chiefs of major airports acknowledge that the terrain is changing.
“You could say the business model has always been under threat,” said Thomas Woldby, chief executive of Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest airports.
“Are we going to see areas that will be less dependent on hubs, not least because of XLR? Of course we will. But there are a huge number of people who want to travel, and many of them come from areas where there are no major airports. So I don’t think the hub is disappearing.”
