London Heathrow Airport (LHR) was back in the news this week, following the Government’s decision to select the longer but more ‘deliverable’ HAL proposal for its new third runway. This will help to ease congestion at the slot-controlled hub, as well as almost doubling its capacity.
While short-haul services to and from destinations within Europe are the airport’s bread and butter, it also plays a key role in connecting the capital city of the United Kingdom, and, indeed, the country as a whole, to intercontinental destinations located further afield. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, 16,320 intercontinental flights are scheduled to and from Heathrow this December.
An Obvious Winner
The top operator of long-haul flights at London Heathrow Airport is 
British Airways. This December, the UK flag carrier and oneworld founding member has planned 5,363 intercontinental services to and from its main hub, accounting for around 32.86% of the airport’s monthly total of 16,320. Among the top aircraft families involved in operating these flights are the Airbus A350, A380, Boeing 777, and 787.
New York JFK is comfortably BA’s top long-haul destination from Heathrow this December, with between six and eight daily rotations. Contrastingly, the next most popular, Dubai (DXB), has three daily round trips. Others served more than twice a day on average include Boston (BOS), Cape Town (CPT), Los Angeles (LAX), and Mumbai (BOM). The latter now has first class on every flight, with BA saying:
“Customers [are] able to book seamless onward connections across the airline’s global network. (…) British Airways has also rolled out a brand-new Meet and Assist service for free for customers who require additional support travelling from India.”
Three Other Carriers Have Over 1,000 Flights
Four airlines have more than 1,000 intercontinental flights scheduled to and from Heathrow this December. Second on the list is Virgin Atlantic, with 1,850 services operated by Airbus A330, A330neo, A350, and Boeing 787 jets. JFK is also Virgin Atlantic’s top long-haul destination from Heathrow, with four daily rotations, while Delhi (DEL), Los Angeles, Miami (MIA), and Mumbai are all served twice a day.
Moving away from UK-based carriers, 
American Airlines has the third-most long-haul flights to and from Heathrow this December, with a total of 1,132. Operated entirely by Boeing jets from the 777 and 787 families, its schedule includes four daily flights from Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and three from Charlotte (CLT).
Rounding out the list of carriers with four-figure totals, and only just behind its US rival, is United Airlines, with 1,108 services. The Star Alliance member also favors Boeing widebodies, with 767s, 777s, and 787s deployed to Heathrow from the likes of Newark (EWR), Chicago (ORD), and Washington (IAD).
The Best of The Rest
Delta Air Lines ranks fifth overall, and has the highest three-figure total of long-haul flights (603) to and from Heathrow this December. The SkyTeam member uses Airbus A330, A330neo, and Boeing 767 jets to fly to and from the West London facility, with Atlanta (ATL) being the most-served route. The Georgia hub has three round trips a day, with New York JFK seeing twice-daily service from Delta.
The Middle East is also an important market for Heathrow, reflected by the presence of Qatar Airways in sixth place. Interestingly, its 584 flights offer 204,958 seats, which would see it rank one place higher by the latter metric. This is thanks to its use of the huge Airbus A380, which it deploys alongside A350s and Boeing 777s to operate as many as 10 flights in each direction between Heathrow and Doha (DOH).
Just missing out on the 500 mark, Air Canada rounds out our list, with 496 long-haul flights planned to and from Heathrow this December. The Canadian flag carrier uses Airbus A330, Boeing 777, and 787 widebodies on these routes, with the narrowbody Boeing 737 MAX 8 also featuring from Halifax (YHZ).
