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New York is the most popular international destination for passengers flying out of London’s airports. Combined traveller numbers to JFK and Newark airports were 4.2 million according to the latest data from the Civil Aviation Authority. But running a close second to New York is somewhere much closer to home, the Irish capital Dublin, with 4 million people flying out of London.
The international destinations data for 2014 shows a mix of globetrotters and short-haulers, but it doesn’t make clear how many were from the UK or just routing through London as part of their onward journey.
Amsterdam and Dubai were also in the top five, both cities welcomed over 3 million London flyers. While European cities mostly dominate the list, Hong Kong and Los Angeles also take in significantly high numbers from London at 1.5m and 1.3m respectively.
| City | All passengers travelling from London |
| New York | 4,207,478 |
| Dublin | 4,068,327 |
| Amsterdam | 3,611,494 |
| Dubai | 3,213,296 |
| Madrid | 2,582,799 |
| Barcelona | 2,534,636 |
| Geneva | 2,394,016 |
| Rome | 2,210,471 |
| Paris | 2,031,242 |
| Copenhagen | 1,901,898 |
| Malaga | 1,798,104 |
| Frankfurt | 1,739,429 |
| Zurich | 1,712,376 |
| Hong Kong | 1,563,714 |
| Munich | 1,527,020 |
The USA is the favourite destination country – 15.9 million London passengers took the long-haul flight across the Atlantic. Spain’s holiday appeal makes it London’s second country of choice, taking 12.6 million people many of them flying out of Gatwick to holiday destinations.
In total, 73 million people flew out of Heathrow airport, almost double the number from the UK’s second biggest airport, Gatwick, which had 38 million.
The most popular flights from Heathrow range greatly between long-haul to the likes of New York, Dubai and Los Angeles, and short-haul to neighbouring European countries.
| City airport | Passengers travelling from Heathrow |
| New York (JF Kennedy) | 2,972,729 |
| Dubai | 2,437,889 |
| Dublin | 1,650,675 |
| Hong Kong (Chek Lap Kok) | 1,563,714 |
| Frankfurt Main | 1,506,705 |
| Amsterdam | 1,486,995 |
| Los Angeles International | 1,354,610 |
| Madrid | 1,274,707 |
| Barcelona | 1,268,729 |
| Paris (Charles De Gaulle) | 1,247,665 |
Gatwick’s most common destinations are a little closer to home, flying to Europe, with the exception of Dubai. The destination board is dominated by holiday traffic.
| City airport | Passengers travelling from Gatwick |
| Barcelona | 1,268,729 |
| Malaga | 1,055,257 |
| Dublin | 990,236 |
| Amsterdam | 848,996 |
| Geneva | 816,778 |
| Dubai | 775,362 |
| Alicante | 768,373 |
| Copenhagen | 734,328 |
| Tenerife (Surreina Sofia) | 732,873 |
| Madrid | 718,235 |
The past twelve months has seen another rise in total passenger numbers with 146.3 million arriving and departing on the capital’s runways – an increase on the same period in 2014-15 of 4.7%.
A new runway at Heathrow or Gatwick will increase capacity further but amid the political turmoil caused by the Brexit vote a decision on where it should be build has been pushed back until October at the earliest, according to the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
Source data: Destinations | Total passenger numbers
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