Which Long-Haul Flights Are Still Operating To The US & Canada?

Updated April 4, 2020

In a time of the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of flights in the US and even around the world have been cancelled in efforts to contain the virus. Many airlines have even shut down operations for the time being. Some airlines such as Lufthansa and Aer Lingus have even temporarily converted their passenger jets into cargo aircraft, carrying essential supplies in both the cargo holds and in the passenger deck. However, some international and domestic flights are still operating in efforts to ensure that people can still get home who are stranded elsewhere in the world, and to maintain some baseline level of transportation around the world for solely essential purposes.

As of now, only certain airports can handle international arrivals (and as you probably know, the US has banned most European nationals from coming into the US), and while international arrivals seemed to be chaotic two weeks ago (like at O’Hare Airport), it seems that the number of international passengers (and domestic passengers) has drastically slowed down. Unfortunately, the number of patients and deaths are speeding up in the US, now the global epicenter of the virus, due to a variety of factors. So in this post, I’ll try my best to list all of the long-haul flights which are currently still operating to the US, as I figured that it would be beneficial for those looking to come home to the US and would be interesting for those looking to see how few flights there really are.

Which Airlines Have Entirely Suspended Operations?

Before I get into which flights are operating, it’s important to note that many airlines have cancelled operations, either voluntarily or at its government’s order. Firstly, the UAE has completely cancelled all flights going in and out of the country for at least 14 days (as of March 23), meaning that both Etihad and Emirates have suspended all operations worldwide, which is a pretty big deal. Meanwhile, Qatar Airways has seized this opportunity and has actually increased flights in the last couple of days to fill the void, which may come at the expense of its people.

Other airlines which have completely temporarily suspended all operations include Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, SAS, Porter Airlines, Copa Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Oman Air, Starlux Airlines, La Compagnie, Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian, Air India, Fiji Airways, Ukraine International Airlines, Uzbekistan Airways, Cabo Verde Airlines, Air Greenland (besides an 8 hour charter flight to Copenhagen via Reykjavik on a Dash 8 Q200), among many others. Even more have suspended all international operations and have maintained a few domestic routes, including Avianca, Turkish Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, and Vietnam Airlines.

Which Long-Haul Flights From US Airlines Are Still Operating?

All four US airlines which operate long-haul flights – American, Delta, United, and Hawaiian – have drastically cut down on their long-haul routes. Hawaiian has cancelled all overseas (including to the mainland US) flights besides one daily flight to Los Angeles and one weekly flight to Pago Pago (American Samoa), although they have maintained some inter-island services. American, Delta, and United have all massively cut down on their domestic flights, with the vast majority of their flights being cancelled, and the flights which still operate for the most part are going empty (which is a good thing, to maintain social distancing). Additionally, most airlines have suspended most if not all of their in-flight service.

American Airlines has cancelled all of its long-haul routes besides three routes until at least early May, which include:

• Miami to London-Heathrow (777-300ER)
• Dallas Fort-Worth to London-Heathrow (777-300ER)
• Dallas Fort-Worth to Tokyo Narita (777-200/787-9)

United Airlines a few days ago announced that they were discontinuing all long-haul flights, although they later reversed that, stating that after March 29th (a few more international flights are operating until then), they would operate the following routes:

• Newark to London-Heathrow (787-10)
• Newark to Frankfurt (787-10)
• Newark to Tel Aviv (787-10)
• Houston to Sao Paulo (777-300ER)
• San Francisco to Sydney (787-9)
• San Francisco to Tokyo (787-9)

Of the US airlines, Delta is maintaining the most international flights for the time being six long-haul flights, although they did cancel the vast majority of them, with the following flights being the only long-haul flights which aren’t cancelled for the time being:

• Atlanta to Amsterdam (A330-300/767-300)
• Atlanta to London Heathrow (767-400)
• Detroit to Amsterdam (A330-200/767-300)
• Detroit to Seoul Incheon (A350-900)
• Seattle to Seoul Incheon (A330-900)
• Seattle to Tokyo Haneda (A330-900)

Which Long-Haul Flights To The US From European Airlines Are Still Operating?

All European airlines have either partially or completely stoped flying to the US, as is expected, with many, including Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, having suspended all flights. Only a few European airlines, including Air France, KLM, British Airways, Lufthansa, are continuing flights to the US for the indefinite future.

Lufthansa is continuing a sparse network of flights to the US from its Frankfurt hub for the time being; they are currently flying the following routes to the US:

• Frankfurt to Chicago O’Hare (747-8–I’m surprised that they’re using their second largest aircraft)
• Frankfurt to Newark (A330-300/747-8)
• In addition, they are currently still flying from Frankfurt to Montreal, using an A330-300

Lufthansa’s partner SWISS is the only other airline part of the Lufthansa group which is still operating flights to the US; they are still flying the following route on a limited schedule:

• Zurich to Newark (A340-300)
• Geneva to Newark

On to OneWorld now–British Airways is flying a limited schedule of flights to the US, although they are still flying more than some of their competitors, which makes sense, given that they are the European airline with the largest presence in the US.

• London Heathrow to New York JFK (777-200/300–it’s now down to only 2x daily!)
• London Heathrow to Boston (787-9)
• London Heathrow to Washington Dulles (A350-1000)
• London Heathrow to Seattle (777-200)
• London Heathrow to Chicago O’Hare (777-200)
• London Heathrow to San Francisco (747-400)
• London Heathrow to Toronto (A350-1000)
• London Heathrow to Vancouver (747-400)

British Airways’ partner Iberia is cancelling flights to the US as of March 29th, which makes sense, given that Spain is somewhat of a hotspot right now. Aer Lingus, another member of IAG, has ceased most transatlantic flights, although will (as of now) continue a few of them through April, including the following routes:

• Dublin to New York JFK (A330-300)
• Dublin to Chicago O’Hare (A330-300)
• Dublin to Boston (A330-300)

Despite Italy being a hotspot for the Coronavirus at this moment, Alitalia has continued one daily flight to the US for the time being and plans to maintain it through April:

• Rome Fiumicino to New York JFK (777-300)

Air France is also planning to continue some flights to the US through April, although in a very limited schedule:

• Paris CDG to New York JFK (777-300)
• Paris CDG to Los Angeles (777-300)
• And to Canada: Paris CDG to Montreal (777-200)

KLM is also maintaining some flights to the US and Canada on a limited schedule:

• Amsterdam to New York JFK (787-10)
• Amsterdam to Chicago O’Hare (777-200)
• Amsterdam to Los Angeles (777-200/300)
• Amsterdam to Atlanta (777-300)
• Amsterdam to Toronto (787-10)

Virgin Atlantic, an airline whose majority of flights are transatlantic (it even has it in the name), has unsurprisingly cancelled the vast majority of its flights for the month of April, with their only remaining flights to the US and Canada being:

• London Heathrow to New York JFK (A350-1000)
• London Heathrow to Los Angeles (A350-1000)

Which Long-Haul Flights To The US From African & Middle Eastern Airlines Are Still Operating?

Most airlines in Africa and the Middle East have suspended all flights to the US, such as South African Airways and many others have suspended all flights period during this time period, including Etihad, Emirates, Kuwait Airways, Egyptair, among others. However, a few airlines will continue flights to the US in April.

While Etihad and Emirates have suspended all flights (although Etihad plans to resume flights on April 22), as a result of a ban by the government of the UAE, Qatar Airways has seized on this opportunity by cancelling less flights than its competitors, to help people get home, possibly at the expense of Qatar’s population. Qatar Airways is continuing the following flights to the US and Canada in April:

• Doha to New York JFK (A350-1000)
• Doha to Washington Dulles (A350-900)
• Doha to Chicago O’Hare (A350-1000)
• Doha to Dallas Fort-Worth (A350-1000)
• Doha to Montreal (777-300ER)

Ethiopian Airlines has surprisingly been able to maintain close to normal operations throughout the COVID-19 crisis, and even has maintained some flights to China! They are continuing all of their flights to the US and Canada on pretty much normal schedules, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancel some of their flights imminently. I checked to see the seat maps of the flights, and the flights seem to have seemingly okay load factors in the next few days, although they look pretty empty for most of April. Update: Ethiopian Airlines has since reduced their flights to the US, both in frequency of flights and in aircraft type.

• Addis Ababa to Washington Dulles (787-8)
• Addis Ababa to Chicago O’Hare (787-8)
• Addis Ababa to Houston via Lome (787-8)
• Addis Ababa to Newark via Lome (787-8)
• Addis Ababa to New York JFK via Abidjan (787-8)
• Addis Ababa to Toronto (787-8)

El Al has shut down all operations until April 4, although they plan to start operations again on April 5, which seems unlikely to me. If they do, they plan to operate the following flights to the US starting on that date:

• Tel Aviv to New York JFK (787-9)
• Tel Aviv to Newark (787-9)

Icelandair meanwhile is planning to resume normal operations on April 11-12, although is currently only flying one route to North America:

• Rekykjavik Keflavik to Boston (767-300)

Which Long-Haul Flights To The US From Asian & Oceanian Airlines Are Still Operating?

Most Chinese flights to the US haven’t been operating for over a month now, and most other flights from Asia to the US have been shut down for the time being, although a few airlines are continuing flights to the US on limited schedules. Many countries, such as Singapore, have banned all international flights, meaning that airlines such as Singapore Airlines have stopped all flight to the US. Some airlines, such as Philippine Airlines, plan to start up operations again to the US in mid-April, although I personally think that any notion of normality coming back by then is highly unlikely.

Japan Airlines has continued some of their flights to their US on limited schedules; the following flights are still operating:

• Tokyo Narita to Los Angeles (777-300ER/787-8)
• Tokyo Narita to Seattle (787-8)
• Tokyo Narita to Boston (787-9)
• Tokyo Haneda to San Francisco (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Haneda to New York JFK (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Haneda to Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Haneda to Dallas Fort-Worth (787-9)
• Tokyo Haneda to Honolulu (787-9)
• Osaka Kansai to Los Angeles (787-8)

All Nippon Airways similarly is continuing many of their flights to the US and Canada:

• Tokyo Narita to Los Angeles (777-300ER)
• Toyo Narita to San Francisco (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Narita to Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Narita to New York JFK (777-300ER)
• Tokyo Haneda to Vancouver (787-9)

Korean Air has drastically decreased their international footprint (quicker than Japan, given that Korea has most likely already peaked in terms of the rate of increase) recently, although they have continued to operate some flights to the US and Canada:

• Seoul Incheon to Los Angeles (777-300ER)
• Seoul Incheon to San Francisco (787-9)
• Seoul Incheon to Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER)
• Seoul Incheon to New York JFK (777-300ER)
• Seoul Incheon to Washington Dulles (787-9)
• Seoul Incheon to Honolulu via Tokyo (A330-200/300)
• Seoul Incheon to Atlanta (777-200)
• Seoul Incheon to Vancouver (787-9)

Korean Air competitor Asiana Airlines has also continued two flights to the US throughout the COVID-19 pandemic:

• Seoul Incheon to Los Angeles (A350-900)
• Seoul Incheon to New York JFK (A350-900)

Taiwan’s EVA Air has also suspended most operations to the US and Canada, and they are currently operating the following flights, with unlikely plans to resume most of their flights to the US and Canada by mid-April.

• Taipei to Chicago O’Hare (777-300ER – “resuming” April 8)
• Taipei to Los Angeles (777-300ER)
• Taipei to New York JFK (777-300ER)
• Taipei to San Francisco (777-300ER)
• Taipei to Vancouver (787-9)

China Airlines (also from Taiwan) also plans to resume most of their flights to the US and Canada on a less limited schedule, and is currently operating to the following destinations in North America on a much reduced schedule, most only flying 2-3x per week is planning to only operate one flight to the US for the month of April:

• Taipei to Los Angeles (777-300ER)

Cathay Pacific has had some of the most drastic route cuts, which often had up to 4x daily flights to New York, currently is operating two flights to North America, on much reduced schedules:

• Hong Kong to Los Angeles (777-300ER)
• Hong Kong to Vancouver (A350-900)

Through the month of April, Air China is planning on operating two 1x weekly flights to North America (which isn’t a surprise, given the ban on foreign nationals by China):

• Beijing to Los Angeles (777-300ER–return via Tianjin)
• Beijing to Vancouver (777-300ER–return via Shenyang)

China Southern Airlines is temporarily also flying one routes to North America for the month of April, surprisingly on their flagship A380:

• Guangzhou to Los Angeles (A380)

Sichuan Airlines has surprisingly continued one flight to North America 1x weekly:

• Chengdu to Vancouver (A330-200)

China Eastern is the only Chinese airline still serving the east coast of the US, with two weekly flights to North America:

• Shanghai to New York JFK (777-300ER)
• Shanghai to Toronto (777-300ER)

Xiamen Air is continuing one flight to its hometown throughout the month of April, on a 1x weekly schedule:

• Xiamen to Los Angeles (787-9)

Air New Zealand is also continuing only one flight to the US several times per week:

• Auckland to Los Angeles (787-9)

Meanwhile, Hainan is continuing one flight to Canada throughout the month of April:

• Beijing to Toronto (787-9–return via Xi’An)

Air Tahiti Nui also seems to be operating one flight to the US, although on a very limited schedule is discontinuing flights to Los Angeles until May.

• Papeete to Los Angeles (787-9)

Which Long-Haul Flights To The US From South American Airlines Are Still Operating?

The flagship carrier of Colombia and the second largest airline of South America, Avianca, has ceased flying all flights besides a very limited schedule of domestic flights. Additionally, Aerolineas Argentinas has suspended all long-haul flights and only is operating a few domestic flights temporarily.

All other South American airlines have also completely suspended flights to North America, besides the largest airline of South America and the flagship carrier of Brazil, Chile, Peru, among other countries, LATAM, which is currently scheduled to continue the following flights to the US through April:

• Sao Paulo to Miami (777-300ER)
• Sao Paulo to New York JFK (A350-900)
• Santiago to Miami (787-9)
• Santiago to Los Angeles (787-9)

Which Long-Haul Flights To Canada (From Canadian Airlines) Are Still Operating?

WestJet, which somewhat recently got into the business of operating long-haul flights, along with Air Transit, have currently canceled all long-haul flights. However, Air Canada is scheduled to maintain a limited schedule of long-haul flights throughout April.

• Montreal – Frankfurt (787-8)
• Montreal – London Heathrow (787-8)
• Montreal – Paris CDG (A330-300)
• Toronto – Delhi (787-9)
• Toronto – Frankfurt (787-9)
• Toronto – London Heathrow (787-9)
• Vancouver – Delhi (787-9)
• Vancouver – Hong Kong (787-8)
• Vancouver – London Heathrow (787-9)
• Vancouver – Tokyo Narita (787-9)

Conclusion

Obviously, the vast majority of flights worldwide have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When doing the research to write this post, I actually was somewhat surprised that there were still so many long-haul flights still operating to North America. However, when you consider that I was able to list all of the long-haul flights currently operating to the US and Canada in one post, you realize the extent to which flights have been cancelled and the pandemic has been able to shut down the world.

Pretty much all of the flights listed above are operating on a much reduced schedule than normal, so while some flights are still operating, they are on a much reduced schedule. As for flights still operating within the US, most are cancelled or have somewhere between 5-10% load factors (I would imagine that international flights also have similar load factors), meaning that if you absolutely have to fly at this point, there is a good chance that you will be able to somewhat effectively social distance onboard the aircraft.

Of course, because of the risks travel (and generally leaving your house or residence of quarantine) poses at the time to yourself and society, I would like to make it very clear that I do not endorse any non-essential travel at this time. However, of course there will still be people who absolutely need to travel and get home, which is the reason why many airlines are still continuing a very limited number of flights.

Of course, I may have missed some of the flights currently operating to the US and I also wouldn’t be surprised if some of the flights listed here have stopped operating. So please let me know in the comments section if there is anything that needs to be corrected in this post–I will try my best to keep it updated!