These 10 US Airports Are Crying Out For Flights To Europe

Some 40 US airports will have scheduled transatlantic passenger flights in 2026. This includes San Juan, in the US territory of Puerto Rico. Compared to 2025, only one airport—Stewart—has lost transatlantic service. This information is based on examining all schedules using Cirium Diio data.

Of course, various smaller US cities, which already have European flights, will get new airlines next year. Examples abound. For example, Aer Lingus will begin flying from Dublin to Pittsburgh, while British Airways will debut in St. Louis. Numerous large cities will do so, too.

The Top 10 US Airports Without Transatlantic Flights

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According to booking data, Kansas City is the country’s largest city without European flights. While simple traffic figures are just one part of the complex equation, it is reasonable to assume that it may eventually secure them. Or, rather, regain them, as Icelandair flew there in 2018 and 2019.

Whether Kansas City succeeds in attracting airlines depends, in part, on the generosity of incentives and other risk-sharing agreements. This is both in itself and in relation to other airports to which carriers could fly. It is always a competition. Perhaps British Airways’ 204-seat Boeing 787-8s could be used from London Heathrow to Kansas City, or Aer Lingus’ 182-seat A321XLRs could fly from Dublin. If they hurry, flights could start in time for the World Cup, but that’s improbable.

Notice San Antonio, which had Condor flights from Frankfurt in 2024. Of course, San Antonio is perhaps only a 90-minute drive to Austin, which has multiple transatlantic services. It is similar for some other entries, such as Richmond to Washington Dulles, Fort Lauderdale to Miami, and Columbus to Cincinnati. Some passengers will obviously drive to these nearby airports, which is not captured in the following data. As such, the stated traffic levels are smaller than they actually are.

4 Of The Airports Previously Had European Flights

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Analysis of Cirium Diio data for the past 20 years indicates that Charleston, Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, and San Antonio have had European flights before. For example, BA flew to Charleston between April and October 2019 aboard the 787-8. Flights would have returned in 2020, but the pandemic put paid to that.

In the examined period, the four US airports had 4,470 scheduled departures to Europe. Of these, Fort Lauderdale had a whopping 95%. BA, Condor, Norse Atlantic, and Norwegian are among the primary carriers to have flown there. In BA’s case, it was only as a competitive response to Norwegian.

Historically, Fort Lauderdale had significantly lower fees/charges than Miami, but the gap has narrowed. Moreover, Miami is far more well-known among Europeans and commands higher fares. No wonder Norse and Norwegian switched to Miami, with BA consolidating there. Since then, Norwegian has ended all long-haul flights, while Norse pulled out of Miami.

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A Look At Kansas City To Europe

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As the table shows, approximately 605 daily round-trip passengers traveled between Kansas City and Europe in the 12 months to October. When Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia are included, the market size rises to 688 daily round-trip passengers. It is nearly all about Europe.

The ten most popular markets to/from Kansas City are London (37,000), Rome (23,000), Frankfurt (18,000), Paris (16,000), Amsterdam (13,000), Dublin (13,000), Athens (12,000), Barcelona (11,000), Munich (10,000), and Madrid (9,000).

Kansas City-London is a smaller market than St. Louis-London. Moreover, Kansas City flights would cover 3% more distance (and thus be more expensive to operate), while having a 10% lower fare per natural mile. Incentives and a risk-sharing accord would be more important than ever, but will they be available to a sufficiently enticing degree? Time will tell.