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The air service between Sydney and Melbourne is the second most lucrative in the world (after London Heathrow-JFK New York) and it earned Qantas about AUD 1.27 billion last year, with an average revenue per hour of roughly AUD 35,000, according to new analysis.

Qantas operates over 30 flights a day on the route.

Forbes magazine compared the world’s 10 most lucrative airline routes. The influential American business and finance publication pointed out that the Melbourne-Sydney (and vice versa) sector is the only domestic route outside North America to have gained a place in the world’s top 10.

Only four domestic routes make the top 10 and barring one (Vancouver-Toronto) they are all in the US.

Most of the top 10 routes, in terms of earnings, are international routes. One of them involves Australia – it’s Singapore-Sydney.

The figures behind the Forbes article came from OAG – the Official Aviation Guide. It used earnings from April 2018 to March 2019 for the comparison.

The figures are given in USD, so the AUD equivalents may have shifted slightly.

OAG’s John Grant points out that British Airways’ Heathrow-JFK New York service retains its number one position with some USD 1.15 billion of revenue (about AUD 1.7 billion) and increased revenue per hour by about 10% compared to the year before.

Five of the 10 top-grossing routes operate from London’s main airport, Heathrow, serving New York, Dubai, Singapore, Doha and Hong Kong.

Half of the 10 routes are operated by members of the Oneworld airline alliance, followed by four from the Star Alliance. One of the routes is operated by Emirates, which is not a member of any alliance.

Here are the top 10 most lucrative routes, in descending order.

  1. London Heathrow – New York JFK
  2. Melbourne – Sydney
  3. Dubai – London Heathrow
  4. Singapore – London Heathrow
  5. San Francisco-Newark
  6. LAX – New York JFK
  7. Doha – London Heathrow
  8. Hong Kong – London Heathrow
  9. Singapore – Sydney
  10. Vancouver – Toronto

The OAG article can be read here.

Written by Peter Needham