Flying across the Atlantic Ocean

Flying across the Atlantic Ocean (also called transatlantic or transpondian flight) is routine for many, especially for business, military, and diplomatic purposes, since the mid-20th century.

The only countries with direct flights to Africa are the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina.

The most common transatlantic routes are between the continents Europe and North America, especially between the west coast of Europe and the east coast of North America.

The transatlantic route between the cities New York and London is one of the most popular and iconic.

European airports big enough to have intercontinental flights often serve at least Toronto Pearson. From the largest European hubs there are often several daily flights to Canada's major intercontinental airports in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver and sometimes direct flights to other Canadian airports too (Calgary in particular has several connections through Air Transat, and soon WestJet as well).

Mexico City Benito Juarez Airport can be reached on nonstop flights from most of the busiest airports in Europe, both by Aeromexico and European carriers. Mexican beach destinations, Cancún in particular, are also served by nonstop flights from Europe.

Iberia flies from Madrid Barajas to several Central American airports; Guatemala City, Panama City, San José. Panama Tocumen and San José have a surprisingly good coverage from major European airports; both also have flights from Amsterdam Schiphol, Frankfurt Airport and Paris CDG. Panama is additionally served from Istanbul Airport, San José from London, Munich Airport and Zurich Airport. From there regional carriers will take you to other parts of Central or northern South America. Note that KLM and Iberia codeshare with regional airlines from other airline alliances on some of these routes and booking them on a single ticket is much cheaper than flying to SJO/PTY and booking onward travel to - say - Managua separately.

Cuba and the Dominican Republic are likely the most popular destinations in the Caribbean and there are a number of direct flights from Europe – especially to beach destinations like Varadero, Puerto Plata and Punta Cana – but also to the capitals Havana and Santo Domingo. In addition, Montego Bay in Jamaica is served from several European airports.

Most other islands in the Caribbean were — or are still — ruled by either the British, Dutch or French. Therefore, if the island's airport is big enough for transatlantic flights there are most likely direct (both charter and scheduled) services from the former/current colonial capital; depending on the island Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport or Paris Orly Airport and in some cases other European airports too. From there, you can get to the smaller islands by regional flights.

The largest European airports all have services to the largest South American airports Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Santiago. From these four hubs there is a good access to all of the rest of the continent. Caracas used to be served from most of the above European airports as well, but in the late 2010s the unrest in the country as well as problems in getting bills owed by Venezuelan entities paid in hard currency has prompted several airlines to suspend their services there meaning that it can be quite difficult as of 2019 to get there.

In addition, capitals of Spanish-speaking countries are in general served by direct flights at least from Madrid but occasionally also other major European airports (for instance, Lima, Quito and Guayaquil are connected to Amsterdam by KLM). Most of the largest cities in Brazil, in turn are served by direct flights from Lisbon and Paramaribo and Cayenne are reachable from Amsterdam Schiphol and Paris Orly, respectively.

Both the United States and Canada do not allow sterile transit; full entry formalities (customs and immigration) are required even for international transit. Some people are denied transit and sent back instead, or even arrested or deported. So it may be preferable to select itineraries that avoid those countries altogether.

However, finding these flights is not always easy; the United States is a hub for many airlines, and travel planning sites lack the ability to search only for flights that do not transit the US or Canada. One way to obtain information is finding out the number of the flight you consider using, then checking the airports and route of that flight using a flight tracking site like Flightradar24.