The Channel separates them, but we ask the following question: Who’s busier? British Airways or Air France?
Using data from RadarBox.com, we will look at each carrier’s movement statistics based on a seven-day rolling average to determine this.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Starting off With British Airways…
For August 8-15, British Airways handled 913 movements, which is an increase of 26.63% compared to the same period last year.
This figure is 55 movements higher than the same period in 2019, showing that the airline is well into its post-pandemic growth.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data on the airline:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| July 11-18 | 880 movements | 745 movements | 868 movements | +16.51% |
| July 18-25 | 846 movements | 723 movements | 870 movements | +20.33% |
| July 25-August 1 | 870 movements | 703 movements | 869 movements | +23.61% |
| August 1-8 | 851 movements | 711 movements | 879 movements | +23.63% |
What we can see from the data is that British Airways has only recently exceeded pre-pandemic levels, which highlights also how busy the Summer 2023 season has been so far.
Onto Air France…
Between August 8-15, Air France operated 817 flights, which is a decrease of 0.85% compared to the same period last year.
This figure is also 83 movements short of achieving pre-pandemic levels, showing that more flights need to be added from Paris respectively.
Below is the last four weeks’ worth of data on the airline:
| Date | 2019 Numbers | 2022 Numbers | 2023 Numbers | Percentage Difference (2023 vs. 2022) |
| July 11-18 | 923 movements | 878 movements | 821 movements | -6.49% |
| July 18-25 | 909 movements | 860 movements | 834 movements | -3.02% |
| July 25-August 1 | 909 movements | 874 movements | 830 movements | -5.03% |
| August 1-8 | 889 movements | 870 movements | 807 movements | -7.24% |
What we can see from the data is that Air France needs to add more flights in order to have any chance of reaching pre-pandemic levels on the movements front.
Who is Busier Overall?
Based on 2023’s data, we can see that British Airways has the most amount of movements, based on a seven-day rolling average.
The UK carrier is on the rise in terms of such flight movements, with Air France needing to get the negative percentages into the positive rises instead.
What will be interesting is the performance of both carriers as we head out of the Summer 2023 season and into the rest of the year.
