United has ramped up its seat capacity by 31% compared to 2019, surpassing Delta and becoming the main airline connecting the US to Europe for the summer.Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
- Barring any cancellations, there will be 3% more seats on flights from US to Europe this summer than in 2019.
- United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have the most scheduled seats, with over 9 million each.
Airlines connecting the US and destinations in Europe hope the skies over the Atlantic will be as busy as they were before the pandemic this summer.
There are nearly 60 million seats on routes between Europe and the US scheduled for the summer season as of May 1, according to data sent to Insider by aviation data provider OAG. Barring any cancellations, that would constitute a 3% increase in capacity compared to the summer of 2019, and a 15% increase compared to last year.
United Airlines and Delta Air Lines have scheduled the most seats by far, with a little over 9 million each, and capacity increases compared to 2019 of 31% and 13%, respectively.
With over 2.5 million seats, Turkish Airlines has increased its scheduled capacity by 78% compared to pre-pandemic times.
See the top 10 airlines connecting Europe and the US by scheduled seat capacity for summer 2023: