2 weeks Ago By Dillon Shah
While in absolute terms, United Airlines leads the way in terms of the number of flights added to the Europe-United States market, one carrier stands out with the highest relative growth in 2025 compared to their operation the year prior. Perhaps as a surprise to many, it was not British Airways, Delta Air Lines, or Lufthansa. Instead, we must look to the Northeast of Europe for an answer: Finland.
The country's national airline, Finnair, leads the way. Its US growth has been quiet yet effective, boosting frequencies on existing routes and opening new ones. Its growth is noteworthy, representing a 35% year-on-year increase according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium .
In percentage terms, Finnair's growth seems quite significant - and it is. That said, smaller airlines on the market can more easily reach higher growth percentages as they come from a smaller base. That rarely translates to the same ranking in absolute terms.
Fastest growing airlines The fastest-growing airlines by flights between Europe and the US in terms of percentages are listed below. Year-on-year growth Airline Hub(s) New US routes in 2025 35% Finnair Helsinki Airport None 30% Neos Milan Malpensa Airport Bari to New York JFK 12% Iberia Madrid Barajas Airport Madrid to Orlando 11% Aer Lingus Dublin Airport Dublin to Nashville and Dublin to Indianapolis 10% KLM Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Amsterdam to San Diego 10% Discover Airlines Munich Airport & Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt to Minneapolis, Munich to Orlando 10% Turkish Airlines Istanbul Airport None This ranking does not include Norse Atlantic Airways, which grew by 30% as its UK division, Norse Atlantic UK, reduced its position in the market. The overall combined growth was just 2%.
Half of its US network has ended since June 2022. Finnair's US operation Schedule filings so far show that the airline will add about 600 more flights in 2025, representing just under 200,000 (two-way) seats. The network and growth Finnair operates to six destinations in the United States, namely: New York JFK Airport (JFK) Miami International Airport (MIA) Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Every single one of the airline's US destinations has or will see either considerable or slight growth in flights and seats on offer in 2025 compared to last year's operation.
The map below shows Finnair's US network in 2025. Routes shown in orange operate up to and including six times per week, while services in green are flown up to daily or more. Below are increases in 2025 compared to last year.
While Helsinki to Seattle saw the largest increases relative to the route's offering in 2024, in absolute terms, Dallas services saw the highest growth. Route Seasonality Number of flights added in % (absolute terms) Aircraft switch? Frequency increases? Helsinki to Seattle Summer seasonal 110% (+42) Yes. Airbus A350-900 (2024) to the Airbus A330-200 (2025).
Yes. Five weekly, up from three weekly. Helsinki to Dallas Year-round 65% (+168) No.
Exclusive operation of the Airbus A350-900 maintained. Yes. Up to 11 weekly in 2025, up from up to 6 weekly in 2024.
Helsinki to Chicago Summer seasonal 45% (+47) No. Exclusive operation of the Airbus A330-300 maintained. Yes.
Daily flights in 2025 compared to up to five weekly last year. Helsinki to Los Angeles Year-round 45% (+60) No. Exclusive Airbus A350-900 operation maintained.
Yes. Up to five weekly in 2025, from up to 3 weekly last year. Helsinki to Miami Winter seasonal 4% (+2) No.
Dual Airbus A350-900 and Airbus A330-300 operation maintained. No. Up to three weekly maintained.
Helsinki to New York JFK Year-round 1.7% (+6) Not completely. Dual A350 & A330 operation maintained, but number of flights with the A350 significantly reduced.
Not really. Daily flights except for November (6 weekly). In 2024, it flew this route daily except in January (6 weekly), November (6) and December (5).
Loads Capacity and frequency increases, as shown above, likely reflect the carrier's success on these routes. While loads should not be considered in isolation, they at least provide an indication as to how a route might be performing. Data from the US Department of Transport shows an average Helsinki-US load factor of 79% for the 12 months ending December 2024.
Seattle was the best-performing destination by this metric, with 85% of two-way seats filled, followed by Miami (82%), Chicago (81%), New York (79%), and Dallas (78%). Los Angeles is at the bottom of the list with a 76% occupancy rate. The overall average (79%) is skewed downwards because it includes the fact that New York and Dallas combined represent about half of all Finnair capacity on offer to the US.
Over half have never been served..
