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Hong Kong-Taipei is the busiest international flight route, according to a report released Tuesday by aviation intelligence firm OAG.
The route, which last held that position in 2019, returns to the top of the list even though seating capacity remains 15% below pre-pandemic levels, according to OAG report.
Seven of the world’s 10 busiest international routes are in Asia-Pacific, although seat capacity on many of those routes has yet to recover to 2019 levels.
However, two routes on the list, both in the Middle East, show significant growth since 2019. The second busiest route, Cairo to Jeddah, has around 5.5 million available seats, up 62% from levels of 2019, according to OAG.
The third busiest route, Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita, also showed significant growth (68%) from pre-pandemic levels. Several factors explain why, said John Grant, chief analyst at OAG.
“Firstly, with the Chinese international market still slowly recovering, airlines have had to allocate planes to other markets. And Japan is a very popular destination right now,” he said. “On top of that… a few new airlines have entered the market, including airlines like Eastar and Air Japan. And finally… Haneda Airport is effectively full, so new capacity has had to go to “Narita.”
The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, which was the busiest international route in 2023, moved to fourth place, with seats 3% below 2019 levels. Bangkok to Hong Kong, the seventh busiest route, is also out. fully restored and remains 13% below pre-pandemic capacity.
New York-JFK to London-Heathrow is the only route on the top 10 list that lands in North America and Europe. Seat capacity on the route increased 3% last year, reaching 4 million seats, according to OAG.
Flights from Latin America don’t make the top 10 list, but the OAG says the region’s busiest international route is between Orlando, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 2.3 million seats. .
Busiest national routes
Domestic flight routes are much busier than international routes, in terms of scheduled seat volume.
The busiest route in the world is located in South Korea and connects Seoul with Jeju Island. According to the OAG, in 2024 there were about 14.2 million seats available on the route, which is equivalent to about 39,000 seats per day.
And that’s even though capacity on the route remains 19% below pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
According to the report, nine of the ten busiest domestic air routes in 2024 are in Asia-Pacific.
The route linking Hokkaido with Tokyo is ranked number 2, followed by another route in Japan, one connecting the city of Fukuoka with Tokyo Haneda.
China’s busiest air route connects its two largest cities, Beijing with Shanghai, with about 7.7 million seats, just ahead of the 7 million seats flying between Guangzhou and Shanghai.
Seats on the latter route fell from 2023 levels, according to the OAG, in what Grant called a “realignment” to 2019 schedules.
“During the pandemic, local Chinese airlines redirected…international capacity to domestic services, and this route saw a large increase,” he said. “What we are seeing now is the realignment of capacity to more normal levels as Chinese carriers slowly return to more international services.”
The biggest growth on this list is in Saudi Arabia, with seats on the route connecting Jeddah and Riyadh increasing 9% from 2019.
Most traveled national routes by region
The busiest route in Africa connects Cape Town in South Africa with Johannesburg (5 million seats) and in Europe, Spanish Barcelona with the island of Mallorca (2.9 million seats).
The busiest route in the United States connects Atlanta and Orlando (3.5 million seats), but the busiest route in North America is the one in Canada between Vancouver and Toronto (3,498,835 seats).
