Asia has dominated the busiest international and domestic route rankings in 2024, with local airlines scheduling millions of seats across routes from/to the region’s key hubs.
One US international route on the list
According to statistics provided by the travel data company OAG, seven out of ten busiest international routes in 2024 were in Asia. One itinerary from Africa, Europe, and the Middle East made it to the list.
Year-on-year (YoY) airlines added 48% more seats between Hong Kong and Taiwan-Taoyuan, enabling the route to lead the rankings by a large margin.
The second busiest is between Cairo International Airport (CAI) and Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED), with 62% more seats compared to 2019 and 14% more seats YoY. The route was ranked 14th in 2019.
The tenth-busiest route was between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR), with 5% and 3% more seats compared to 2019 and 2023, respectively.
Four of the ten busiest international routes had fewer seats than in 2019. Furthermore, only one, namely itineraries connecting Bangkok and Hong Kong, was outside the top ten in 2023.
Asia, the Middle East, and Oceania dominance on domestic routes
However, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East were the only regions with representatives in the top ten on the busiest domestic route list.
The busiest domestic route remains in South Korea, which connects Jeju International Airport (CJU) and Seoul Gimpo International Airport (GMP), with 14.1 million seats connecting Jeju and the country’s capital. The route still had 19% fewer seats in 2019, growing by 3% YoY.
Two subsequent routes were in Japan, between New Chitose Airport (CTS) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) with 11.9 million seats (flat YoY), and between Fukuoka Airport (FUK) and Tokyo-Haneda (11.3 million seats).
The Vietnamese domestic route from Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) had 10.6 million seats (2% fewer YoY).
The first non-Asian entry is in Australia, connecting Melbourne Airport (MEL) with Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD), with 9.2 million seats (1% fewer YoY).
Jeddah to Riyadh followed with 8.7 million seats, with another Japanese route between Tokyo-Haneda and Okinawa Naha International Airport (OKA) with 8 million seats also on the list.
The eighth-busiest route is in India, from Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) with 7.9 million seats.
OAG pointed out that domestic flights from Jeddah to Riyadh experienced the most growth, with airlines operating between the two Saudi Arabian cities adding 10% seats YoY. There were 9% more seats YoY between Mumbai and Delhi as well.
More than 3 million seats on seven domestic routes in the US
The company’s data also highlighted that out of the top ten busiest domestic routes in the US, seven have had more than 3 million scheduled seats in 2024, with the leading route, from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Orlando International Airport (MCO), having 3.4 million seats during the year.
