Hong Kong-Taipei is the busiest international route, according to a report released Tuesday by aviation information firm OAG.
The route, which held the position in 2019, topped the list again despite seat capacity still being 15% below pre-pandemic levels, according to the OAG report.
Seven of the world’s 10 busiest international routes are in the Asia-Pacific region, but seat capacity on many of these routes has not yet recovered to 2019 levels.
However, the two routes on the list (both to the Middle East) have shown significant growth since 2019. The second busiest route, Cairo-Jeddah, has about 5.5 million seats available, an increase of 62% from 2019 levels, according to OAG.
The third busiest route, Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita, also showed a significant increase (68%) from pre-pandemic levels. John Grant, chief analyst at OAG, said several factors could explain why.
“Firstly, airlines have had to allocate aircraft to other markets because China’s international market is still slowly recovering. And Japan is a very popular destination at the moment. ” he said. “In addition…several new airlines have entered the market, including airlines such as Easter and Air Japan. And finally…Haneda Airport is virtually full and new capacity has to go to Narita. It’s gone.”
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, which was the busiest international route in 2023, has moved up to fourth place with seat capacity down 3% from 2019 levels. The Bangkok-Hong Kong route, the seventh busiest route, has also not fully recovered and remains 13% below pre-pandemic capacity.
New York-JFK to London-Heathrow is the only route on the top 10 list that reaches North America and Europe. According to OAG, the number of seats on the route increased by 3% last year to 4 million seats.
Although flights from Latin America don’t make the top 10 list, the region’s busiest international flight is the 2.3 million-seat route between Orlando, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, according to OAG.
busiest domestic flight
Domestic routes are much busier than international routes in terms of regular seat capacity.
The world’s busiest route is in South Korea, connecting Seoul and Jeju Island. According to OAG, approximately 14.2 million seats will be available on this route in 2024, equivalent to approximately 39,000 seats per day.
And that’s despite the route’s capacity remaining 19% below pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
According to the report, nine of the 10 busiest domestic airline routes in 2024 will be in the Asia-Pacific region.
In second place was the route connecting Hokkaido and Tokyo, followed by the Japanese route connecting Fukuoka City and Tokyo Haneda.
China’s busiest airline route connects the two largest cities, Beijing and Shanghai, with a seating capacity of approximately 7.7 million seats, slightly more than the 7 million seats connecting Guangzhou and Shanghai.
In what Grant called a “recalibration” to the 2019 schedule, seat capacity on the latter route was reduced from 2023 levels, OAG said.
“During the pandemic, China’s local airlines diverted international capacity to domestic flights, and we saw significant growth on this route,” he said. “What we are now seeing is capacity readjustment to more normal levels as Chinese airlines gradually resume more international services.”
The fastest growing destination on this list is Saudi Arabia, with seat capacity on the Jeddah-Riyadh route increasing by 9% from 2019.
Busiest domestic flights by region
The busiest route in Africa connects Cape Town, South Africa, to Johannesburg (5 million seats), and in Europe, it connects Barcelona, Spain, to Mallorca (2.9 million seats).
The busiest route in the United States is the Atlanta-Orlando route (3.5 million seats), while the busiest route in North America is the Canadian route between Vancouver and Toronto (3,498,835 seats).
