Emirates began Fort Lauderdale in 2016 but ended the service last year. It achieved an estimated 90% seat load factor in 2019 – helped by below-average fares. Where did passengers go? We examine the route.
Emirates began Dubai to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) on December 15th, 2016, becoming the airline’s second route to Florida after Orlando. It initially served FLL once-daily using 266-seat B777-200LRs, before later reducing it to four-weekly.
Despite the large amounts of planning most airlines do for new routes, strong performance isn’t guaranteed. Route reductions reflect underperformance, and cutting capacity will hopefully improve yields and seat load factors. Aircraft can then be redeployed to where they might be more effectively used.
Emirates raised eyebrows when it announced FLL. It launched the airport – rather than Miami – because of its US partner, JetBlue. FLL was, and remains, JetBlue’s third-largest airport. The reason was logical: passengers could connect via the South Florida airport to various locations in Latin America and the US.
The Middle East Big Three (MEB3) airline ended Fort Lauderdale in 2020, although it still serves 12 destinations across North America.
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90% seat load factor in 2019
In 2019, Emirates’ FLL route had an approximate seat load factor (SLF) of 90%. This is based on 107,536 seats and an estimated 97,000 passengers, as shown below. This is from booking data obtained via OAG Traffic Analyzer.
In airline performance, SLF is an important measurement, but it must really be considered alongside yields and costs….