The US’s 10 Emptiest International Routes Revealed

The US’s international market is enormous. In the 12 months to October 2025, 256 million passengers traveled to/from the country—701,000 daily. Traffic was virtually flat year-over-year, perhaps driven, in part, by the current geopolitics that is causing some airlines to cut multiple routes. Traffic data is from the US Department of Transportation.

When all airlines, routes, and passengers are considered, the country’s average international seat load factor was 82.2%, down marginally compared to the prior 12 months (82.4%). As always, the load factor is just one performance measure, and should not be considered in isolation from other things.

The US’s Ten Emptiest International Routes

Credit: Shutterstock

Whether fair or not, US territories in the Caribbean and Pacific were not considered. To be included, routes had to have a minimum of 2,000 round-trip passengers between November 2024 and October 2025. This cutoff point helps to avoid one-off charter or scheduled services and any other oddities.

You’ll see that many of the routes had tiny traffic volumes. Part of the reason was, of course, the particularly poor loads. But in some instances, it was also driven by very low frequencies, as several of the routes were only served weekly. In some cases, a relatively short operating period was a factor, whether a route had started fairly late in the examined period or ended during the same timeframe.

San Antonio To Morelia

Credit: Shutterstock

Covering 596 nautical miles (1,104 km) each way, the US DOT shows that this city pair had not been served until Volaris launched flights. The first departure took place on July 5, 2025, with the brand-new market served three times weekly. The A320ceo and A320neo were used.

Between July and October 2025, the route achieved a pathetically low load factor of just 25.7%. Nearly three in four seats were empty. Assuming the DOT’s data is correct, it filled 35.4% of seats in July, 25.1% in August, 19.3% in September, and 23.8% in October.

Despite these results, flights continue in 2026 at the same frequency. However, it seems that the end is coming. While the ultra-low-cost carrier’s other routes from San Antonio are scheduled and bookable through December 2026, including the also-new link to San Luis Potosí, flights to Morelia aren’t. The final service is down for April 11.

Related

15 New Routes In 5 Days: Where American, Breeze & Frontier Now Fly

Several of them are notable, while one airline will begin its new shortest flights…

Kuwait Airways To New York JFK

Credit: Shutterstock

The Middle Eastern operator has served New York for more than four decades. It was the sole long-haul route to feature in the table. In the 12 months to October 2025, only 40.6% of the available seats were filled, with the route showing significant directional traffic imbalance.

Despite this result, Kuwait Airways has increased flights to JFK in 2026. A daily service is scheduled throughout the year, with the 334-seat 777-300ER down to operate.

The airline flew the lower-capacity, 235-seat A330-800 to JFK for a while. A problem with this variant is that it does not appear to have a crew rest area, while takeoff performance from the Middle East might have been impacted during the blistering summer. Like the higher-capacity A330-900, the A330-800 also does not have first class, which Kuwait Airways seems keen to use to JFK.