Type Of Traffic On Routes

Iemand91 · Mon Apr 18, 2016 2:18 pm

Every once in a while I read on this forum comments about what kind of traffic there is on certain routes.
One of the best known is business traffic between London and New York so airlines put more premium-heavy aircraft on that route.
Amsterdam and Stavanger to Houston (used to be) transporting lots of people from the oil industry.
(Thanks to low oil prices not so much today)
Paris and Montreal because of the French connections/community.

But also cargo. Like flowers from Kenya (NBO) to Amsterdam (Aalsmeer Flower Auction), horses to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby or Melbourne for the Melbourne Cup.
Tuna from Adelaide to Tokyo or lobsters from Perth.

KLM has 13 747-400 Combi planes remaining (as one of the very few airlines that still flies 747-400M's) so the routes on which they use them some special cargo must be present that can't be loaded below deck.
Maybe horses since AF/KLM transports about half of the 24.000 horses that are loaded on planes every year.

So does anyone here have any contributions about certain kind of traffic (be it people or cargo) between two airports?

[Edited 2016-04-18 07:40:23]

flymia · Mon Apr 18, 2016 2:34 pm

Around Valentines Day the amount of flowers flown into MIA is insane. 747 aircraft filled with tons of flowers.

Also you got to think how many overnight gifts from toys to electronics are flown around the world the days leading up to Christmas.

Iemand91 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:25 am

Quoting flymia (Reply 1):
Around Valentines Day the amount of flowers flown into MIA is insane. 747 aircraft filled with tons of flowers.

Also you got to think how many overnight gifts from toys to electronics are flown around the world the days leading up to Christmas.

Thanks for the comment.

To bad it's the only comment here...

vv701 · Tue Apr 19, 2016 1:59 pm

With an F1 race at intervals of every two and sometimes just one week, 22 heavy cars plus parts and tools will be transported around the world, mainly by air, between 13 March and the end of November this year. The approximate routing (ignoring those legs made by road and apologies if they use a different airport to that listed below is:

MEL-BAH-PVG-Sochi (?)-BCN-NCE (Monaco)-YUL-GYD-VIE-STN-BUD-FRA-BRU-MXP-SIN-KUL- NGO-AUS-MEX-CGH-AUH.

And this ignores visits 'home' for repairs or whatever.

Three examples:

BA World Cargo 744F G-GSSB carried several F1 teams cars between MUC and YUL on 4 June 2010

BA World Cargo 748F G-GSSE carried the cars, parts and tools of the Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams from the Bahrain back 'home' to Italy flying BAH-MXP on 23 April 2013.

BA World Cargo 748F G-GSSE also carried the cars and other necessities of several UK based teams from 'home' (STN) to the US Grand Prix (AUS) on 5 November 2013.

As far as I can determine a 744F or a 748F can carry the cars and necessary other equipment of three of the eleven F1 teams. As far as I can determine when flying from base to a competition circuit there are at least two flights from the UK (STN) and one from Italy (MXP). But many flights are circuit to circuit. For example this year there are only three days between the end of the Canadian GP (YUL) on 12 June and first practice for the European GP (GYD) on 16 June. The great circle distance between airports id just over 5,500 miles.

Ytraveller · Tue Apr 19, 2016 3:10 pm

Interesting thread!

Turkmenistan Airlines and Uzbekistan Airlines fly BHX-ATQ with stops in their hubs to cater to the large Sikh population in BHX. AI also operates a direct BHX-ATQ flight via DEL.

TAAG nonstop between Luanda and Havana has something to do with teaching and medical supplies.

American Airlines nonstop between Heathrow and Raleigh has to do with the research and pharmaceutical industries around Raleigh I believe.

Las Vegas to Heathrow by British Airways gets international tourists connecting through LHR, 'high rollers', gaming industry executives and the occasional Las Vegas native.

irishpower · Wed Apr 20, 2016 7:09 pm

I know LX's flights between ZRH and SFO have largely been sustained by the Biotech/Pharma industry. Roche/Genentech have their two WWHQ's in Basel and South San Francisco. The premium cabin on those flights is heavily booked by Roche/Genentech.

You could argue that most of the international traffic that flies non-stop into SJC is due to Silicon Valley and is probably kept alive by the tech industry.

n729pa · Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:25 pm

Quoting ytraveller (Reply 4):
American Airlines nonstop between Heathrow and Raleigh has to do with the research and pharmaceutical industries around Raleigh I believe.

Correct, lot of Pharmaceutical products move on this flight due to there being a large Pharma industry in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Quoting VV701 (Reply 3):
With an F1 race at intervals of every two and sometimes just one week, 22 heavy cars plus parts and tools will be

Cars are not heavy, but bulky but special transporter frames are used to maximise space. F1 Car's minimal weight is just under 700 kilos per car. But it's all the support equipment that creates the real bulk.

More info on how the circus moves on the link below... a bit more than a 747F

http://www.dhl-in-motion.com/f1/arti...-by-dhl-and-formula-one-management

FlyingSicilian · Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:45 pm

FWIW there is still a lot of OIL traffic on IAH-AMS/LHR/LOS/MAF/OKC/MSY for example

FSDan · Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:06 pm

One that's often discussed on here is DL's CVG-CDG flight. Supposedly there is a lot of P&G traffic (HQ in Cincinnati and European HQ in Switzerland, I believe) as well as GE Aviation (between HQ in Cincinnati and Airbus in Tolouse).

CVG-XNA is reportedly a lot of Wal Mart/P&G related traffic.

I can report from first hand experience that a lot of DL traffic from MSN (and some AA and UA) is driven by Epic Systems. I've been on some flights that are 30-40%+ Epic employees.

IAHWorldflyer · Thu Apr 21, 2016 7:14 pm

In the spring and fall, there are heavy cargo loads of asparagus coming out of LIM. During the times where the crop is coming off, DL often upguages to 772's in order to handle the extra cargo volume on LIM-ATL. AA might do the same on it's flights to MIA, I'm not sure.

RRTrent · Fri Apr 22, 2016 10:23 am

AFAIK EI resumed DUB-SFO following pressure from a couple of major Silicon Valley corporations with operations in Ireland. I'll let you guess who they were.

Ratypus · Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:59 am

BA London Gatwick to Jersey - mostly tier point runners in Club Europe....

mutu · Fri Apr 22, 2016 2:43 pm

Quoting ytraveller (Reply 4):
Las Vegas to Heathrow by British Airways gets international tourists connecting through LHR, 'high rollers', gaming industry executives and the occasional Las Vegas native.

Lots of business folks attending conventions in Vegas also helps fill the front. This is a reasonably premium heavy flight, and one of the most successful new route launches.

descl · Fri Apr 22, 2016 2:53 pm

Flights from SCL to Northern Chile depend on mining trafic.
For example, SCL-CJC (Calama, a northern city surrounded by copper mines) flights, are full of miners and engineers that live in Central Chile but work in the North.
On the days that shift changes occur, LAN has up to 14 daily flights on this route, while on other days there are around 8 flights a day (and just 4 on saturdays!)

Ratypus · Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:27 pm

Same with BA Heathrow - Phoenix - although (like Vegas) this is run with the lower 52-J configuration (and 14F seats), the front is normally filled up with a mix of conferences (Phoenix is quite big on these) and wealthy tourists from the South West taking advantage of the only connection from PHX transatlantic (connecting to Europe through LHR)

[Edited 2016-04-22 08:28:41]

Ratypus · Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:30 pm

LCY to LUX is almost exclusively banking and finance traffic - for all those Luxembourg based finance companies and similar; BA's LHR to LUX flight is supposed to be the same, but feeding off transatlantic connections (BA shifted LUX from LGW to LHR a couple of years back, and tweaked the timings for proper connections)

Iemand91 · Sun Apr 24, 2016 9:32 pm

Very interesting responses guys. Much appreciated.

I'll be looking for some more.

Ytraveller · Sun Apr 24, 2016 9:38 pm

Quoting mutu (Reply 12):
one of the most successful new route launches.

I've noticed BA has been very wise in its recent route launches in the US.

LAS: started as daily 772 service, now 11x weekly 744
SAN: started as daily 772 service, now daily 744 for the summer and then 77W
AUS: started as daily 788 service, now daily 772/789
SJC: will start as daily 789, I'm sure it will do well.

Iemand91 · Sun May 01, 2016 10:09 pm

Well, to keep this topic (hopefully) alive: I'll post another one:

KL started AMS - YEG route almost a year ago. KLM said they would expect about 15% of passengers to be business related, mostly in oil industry.
The other 85% would be tourists or visits to family and/or friends.
Since this route is also the only direct flight to Continental Europe they expected AMS to become a hub for passengers flying further into Europe.

Ytraveller · Sun May 01, 2016 10:17 pm

Quoting Iemand91 (Reply 18):
Well, to keep this topic (hopefully) alive: I'll post another one:

Yeah there are some topics that just don't 'take off'. This is often the case with threads on my home airport LAS. I envy those threads on Arizona aviation and other regions!

LHRBFSTrident · Mon May 02, 2016 12:30 am

KLM's 744 combi fleet does indeed do brisk business in transporting horses, AFAIK

At the LAX station there are 2 aspects to the horse business - race horses (for Santa Anita racetrack near Pasadena now that Hollywood Park near the airport has closed) plus polo ponies for the Santa Barbara polo season.

I'm not an expert but, as I understand it, the polo circuit travels in an 'endless summer' type itinerary between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres - not entirely sure how much business KL captures as I suppose the circuit travels in one direction, so routing via AMS may not always be practical. However each polo team travels with a significant number of horses, and while the Patròn and players likely fly privately, there's a significant entourage that travels commercially too.

The last time I flew on KL602, I was so surprised that the horses' groom spoke no English which is quite rare for a Dutchman Wink

[Edited 2016-05-01 17:31:57]

Cory6188 · Mon May 02, 2016 1:48 am

I would have to throw XNA and BLL in there as two unique examples, because they serve what are essentially company towns. Wonder which one would win in terms of % of airport traffic specifically driven by LEGO and Walmart, respectively.

XNA is pretty much all Walmart and vendor companies, but with a decent population in the broader NW Arkansas area and an at least (small) amount of corporate diversity (Tyson and JB Hunt in addition to Walmart).

The town of Billund, on the other hand, is a tiny fraction of the size of NW Arkansas, population-wise, but still with enormous global headquarters for The LEGO Group. While I realize that BLL serves a broad area of Jutland in Denmark, LEGO has got to be the lion's share of the traffic (and probably even more so if you throw LEGOLAND in there as a tourist destination).

Other than those two, I can't think of too many airports like that where one company really runs the show, no matter the route...

IrishAyes · Mon May 02, 2016 2:11 am

I know that several of the DTW-Germany flights in the past have been due to the auto industry. There have been a handful offered, including DUS, FRA and MUC (now runs summer-seasonal).

NW also operated MSP-OSL once due to the Scandinavian ties between Minnesota and Norway. SAS also flew between SEA and CPH until 2008 for the same reasons.

The UA island hopper between HNL and GUM that goes via Micronesia and the US Marshall Islands carries a lot of mail to the islands.

This is a really fascinating article published a few years ago that talks about cargo that is carried on planes!

http://m.jsonline.com/sports/packers...rks-too-b99193321z1-243235461.html

Quoting ytraveller (Reply 4):
Turkmenistan Airlines and Uzbekistan Airlines fly BHX-ATQ with stops in their hubs to cater to the large Sikh population in BHX. AI also operates a direct BHX-ATQ flight via DEL.

Earlier today, I was pricing out a JCL one-way flight from LHR to DEL and the cheapest itinerary was offered via TAS and ATQ. Very interesting!

Back in the day, Air India flew their first 777s from YYZ to BHX to ATQ then DEL to cater to the Punjabi Sikh population in Britain and Canada.

CO 757-300 · Mon May 02, 2016 4:30 am

EWR - ZRH is big on Pharma- wasn't there at some point an EWR - BSL flight on Privatair for Novartis and Roche traffic.. Lots of pharmaceutical HQs and labs in both North Jersey and Zuri

IAD - DXB / KWI / DOH / BAH for contractors / media / defense related, military draw down in the area meant these flights got the axe I am guessing.

ATL-Germany on DL always seemed to have lots of military personnel from what I recall

I had heard that that DL's STR and MUC flights were also heavy on Auto traffic connecting in from Southern US plants, as was LH's MUC-CLT...

DTW - NGO is another Auto industry route if I am not mistaken

I often fly on AB's TXL-JFK which always has alot of American ex-pats and creative industry / artist types on board...

Iemand91 · Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:07 pm

Some new info regarding cargo:

- China to Amsterdam: Electronics, machinery, clothing and chemical products.
- Kenya and Equador to Amsterdam: flowers and fruit.

PA727 · Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:27 pm

To bring back some of the old anet feel, you can also include FI. We all know anywhere they fly is specifically for the purpose of moving fish! :lol:

On a more serious note, I would have to guess my hometown airport, XNA is really loaded up on corporate travel for WM and the vendors. For example, XNA-SFO on UA specifically was added for Walmart traffic to reach both the eCommerce HQ in San Bruno as well as for Asian connections.

Viscount724 · Fri Jul 01, 2016 2:56 am

CO 757-300 wrote:
EWR - ZRH is big on Pharma- wasn't there at some point an EWR - BSL flight on Privatair for Novartis and Roche traffic.. Lots of pharmaceutical HQs and labs in both North Jersey and Zurich

Privatair has never served BSL to the best of my memory. They did operate an all-J class 737-800/BBJ for LX ZRH-EWR for a few years before LX took over operations on the route with their own A330-300 a couple of years ago.

Swissair briefly attempted nonstop A310-300 service BSL-JFK sometime in the mid-1990s but it was unsuccessful and didn't last long.

ojjunior · Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:12 pm

What about the aspargus race LIM-ATL with DL?

winGl3t · Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:26 pm

descl wrote:
Flights from SCL to Northern Chile depend on mining trafic.
For example, SCL-CJC (Calama, a northern city surrounded by copper mines) flights, are full of miners and engineers that live in Central Chile but work in the North.
On the days that shift changes occur, LAN has up to 14 daily flights on this route, while on other days there are around 8 flights a day (and just 4 on saturdays!)

Also plenty of tourists flying to CJC headed to San Pedro de Atacama and the beautiful Atacama desert

nadavatar64 · Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:52 pm

many of the AS flights to ANC and onwards carries many miners/people realted to the oil industry in alaska.
many of SFO flights are filled with passengers related to hight tech industries to routes like DEL,TLV and ICN.
most of the international flights from DTW are car buisness related like NGO,NRT,ICN and more.

n92r03 · Fri Jul 01, 2016 5:35 pm

Interesting thread, I'm not sure if my reply is what you had in mind, but anyway, here goes-

The lift out of Hong Kong whenever the latest iPhone is released can be interesting. A couple iPhone releases ago, I read that the tracking numbers provided by the cell carriers (ATT, Verizon, etc) were printed in Shenzhen and affixed to the boxes as they rolled on the line and then went directly into containers and then trucked to HKG and loaded onto the cargo planes. IIRC, UPS, FedEx, ATLAS and Polar were all involved with dedicated freighters to get the product to the US "overnight".

I remember getting my tracking number and then trying to figure out which plane my iPhone was on. You know, total avgeek style!

So HKG-ANC would be pretty busy around this time each year...

SCQ83 · Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:13 pm

SCQ-Switzerland (BSL and GVA with easyJet and ZRH with Swiss and Vueling) is overwhelmingly VFR (large Galician community in CH). In fact Switzerland is the largest international market from SCQ.

SCQ-Italy (BGY with Ryanair and FCO with Vueling) and Ireland (DUB with Aer Lingus) is overwhelmingly pilgrims for St James's Way (I wouldn't call it strictly "religious" as many people do this thing for spiritual or leisure reasons). This is interesting because St James's Way appeals very differently to different nationalities (i.e. there are almost as many Irish as British in absolute numbers despite 1/10 of the population).

Other international markets (UK, France, Benelux, Germany) are more varied.

Mortyman · Fri Jul 01, 2016 6:16 pm

Lots of fish from Norway to around the world: Asia, USA, South America and Europe. Both on cargo aircraft, but also regulare passenger aircraft carries alot of cargo from Norway. Both Norwegian and SAS are filled up.

Iemand91 · Mon Oct 03, 2016 5:57 pm

Iemand91 wrote:
Every once in a while I read on this forum comments about what kind of traffic there is on certain routes.

Like flowers from Kenya (NBO) to Amsterdam (Aalsmeer Flower Auction)

According to this BBC documentary; in 2015 alone more then 2000 planes flew from Kenya to Amsterdam (or at least destined for the Aalsmeer Auction). :shock:

NichCage · Mon Oct 03, 2016 7:19 pm

Air India flies BLR-DEL-SFO and SFO-DEL-BLR because of the huge Indian community in the Bay Area, along with the passengers who travel back and fourth between BLR and SFO for the Tech Industry.

migair54 · Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:52 am

I can add some.

World Airlines do flights from GVA to DAR carrying new notes. I am not sure if they also carry coins but I have seen the plane few times and the security is huge around the plane.

Few airlines do a lot of business out of EBB with fish, Nile perch specially.

Qatar airways and Emirates do ZAZ-MEX with textiles, biggest customer is ZARA.

I know it's not commercial flying but Airbus has schedule flights with the Beluga between TLS and Getafe and TLS XFW and some more in the UK for the wings.

RohanDXB · Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:41 am

Not regularly scheduled but every year, you will see a ton of heavies in JED - flow as Hajj charters from Malaysia, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, etc.Timing of this depends on Hajj season which shifts back two weeks each year.

Ro

User001 · Tue Oct 04, 2016 7:57 am

In terms of Manchester, the Saudia route to Jeddah is primarily due to a BAE contract.

British Airways to Bremen and Billund are corporate contract routes, and I believe Philidelphia remains an A330 due to some form of corporate contract.

CairnterriAIR · Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:23 am

One form of traffic that many may not realize......boxes of live tropical fish for the aquarium hobby trade. Flights from MCO and TPA to BDL are often loaded with massive quantities. Same goes with flights from Sri Lanka, Guam, and Miami to many other cities.

ojjunior · Tue Oct 04, 2016 11:40 am

flymia wrote:
Around Valentines Day the amount of flowers flown into MIA is insane. 747 aircraft filled with tons of flowers.

Who said the romanticism has gone?
Love is the air (literally)

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