The airline industry is a tough business. Profit margins are narrow, airplanes are expensive to run and maintain, and government regulation and taxation can be onerous and unpredictable. In addition, demand can stall by the outbreak of disease, recession, war, or terrorism. So when a company has a winning airline route, it makes all the difference to a company’s bottom line.
For every airline there are a small selection of lucrative routes where either competitive advantage, market circumstances or limited competition make for very attractive revenues. Strong revenues don’t always translate directly into profits, though, and operating costs on some of these routes will also be high.
Here are the top 10 most lucrative airline routes in the world.
| Rank | Airline | Airport pair | Total revenue |
| 1. | British Airways | JFK-LHR | $1,159,126,794 |
| 2. | Qantas Airlines | MEL-SYD | $849,260,322 |
| 3. | Emirates | LHR-DXB | $796,201,645 |
| 4. | Singapore Airlines | LHR-SIN | $735,597,614 |
| 5. | United Airlines | SFO-EWR | $689,371,368 |
| 6. | American Airlines | LAX-JFK | $661,739,368 |
| 7. | Qatar Airways | LHR-DOH | $639,122,609 |
| 8. | Cathay Pacific Airways | HKG-LHR | $604,595,063 |
| 9. | Singapore Airlines | SYD-SIN | $549,711,946 |
| 10. | Air Canada | YVR-YYZ | $541,122,509 |
