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Hong Kong-Taipei is the busiest international flight route, according to a report released by aviation intelligence company OAG on Tuesday.
The route – which last held that position in 2019 – again tops the list despite seat capacity being 15% below pre-pandemic levels, it said. OAG report.
Seven of the world’s 10 busiest international routes are in the Asia-Pacific, although seat capacity on many of these routes has not yet recovered to 2019 levels.
However, two routes on the list — both from the Middle East — show significant growth since 2019. The second busiest route, Cairo to Jeddah, has around 5.5 million seats, which is 62% higher than the 2019 level, according to OAG.
The third busiest route—Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita—also saw significant growth (68%) from pre-pandemic levels. Several factors explain why, said OAG principal analyst John Grant.
“First of all, as the international market in China is gradually recovering, airlines have had to divert their planes to other markets. And Japan is a very popular destination at the moment,” he said. “Additionally… a number of new carriers have entered the market, including airlines such as 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 up to fourth place, with seats up 3% of the 2019 level. Bangkok-Hong Kong, the seventh-busiest route, has also not fully recovered, lagging 13% behind pre-pandemic capacity.
New York-JFK to London-Heathrow is the only route on the top 10 list that touches both North America and Europe. Seat capacity on the route rose 3% last year to 4 million seats, according to the OAG.
Latin American flights did not make the top 10 list, but OAG says the region’s busiest international route is Orlando, Florida to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 2.3 million seats.
The busiest routes in the house
Domestic flight routes are much busier than international ones in terms of the volume of scheduled seats.
The busiest route in the world is South Korea, connecting Seoul with Jeju Island. There were about 14.2 million seats on the route in 2024, or about 39,000 seats per day, according to the OAG.
And that’s despite route capacity being 19% below pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
According to the report, nine of the busiest domestic airlines in 2024 are located in Asia-Pacific.
The route connecting Hokkaido and Tokyo is included in number 2, followed by another Japanese route connecting Fukuoka City and Tokyo Haneda.
China’s busiest air route connects its two largest cities—Beijing and Shanghai—with 7.7 million seats, ahead of the 7 million seats between Guangzhou and Shanghai.
Seats on the latter route dropped from 2023 levels, according to the OAG, when Grant called the 2019 schedule a “re-adjustment.”
“During the pandemic, local Chinese airlines … redirected their international capacity to domestic services, and this route saw a significant increase,” he said. “What we’re seeing now is capacity returning to more normal levels as the Chinese carriers slowly bring back more international services.”
The biggest growth on this list is in Saudi Arabia, with a 9% increase in seats on the route connecting Jeddah and Riyadh from 2019.
The busiest domestic routes by region
The busiest route in Africa connects Cape Town in South Africa with Johannesburg (5 million seats) and in Europe, Barcelona in Spain 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 Canada connecting Vancouver and Toronto (3,498,835 seats).
