The world's busiest air routes in 2024

Hong Kong-Taipei is the busiest international air route, in accordance with a report released on Tuesday by the aviation intelligence agency OAG.

The route, which last held the spot in 2019, is once more at the highest of the list despite seating capability still being 15% below pre-pandemic levels, it said OAG report.

Seven of the world's 10 busiest international routes are within the Asia-Pacific region, although seating capability on lots of these routes remains to be not at 2019 levels.

However, two routes on the list – each within the Middle East – have seen significant growth since 2019. On the second largest route, Cairo to Jeddah, there are around 5.5 million seats available, which is 62% greater than in 2019, in accordance with OAG.

The third busiest route – Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita – also saw significant growth (68%) in comparison with pre-pandemic levels. Several aspects explain why, said John Grant, chief analyst at OAG.

“First, with the Chinese international market still slowly recovering, airlines had to reallocate their aircraft to other markets. And Japan is a very popular travel destination right now,” he said. “In addition… some new airlines have entered the market, including airlines such as Eastar and Air Japan. And finally… Haneda Airport is practically fully booked, so new capacity had to go to Narita.”

The Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, the busiest international route of 2023, moved as much as fourth place, with seats 3% below 2019 levels. Bangkok to Hong Kong, the seventh busiest route, can be not fully restored and stays 13% behind pre-pandemic capability.

New York-JFK to London-Heathrow is the one route on the highest 10 list that lands in North America and Europe. According to OAG, seating capability on the route increased last yr by 3% to 4 million seats.

Flights from Latin America didn't make the highest 10 list, but in accordance with OAG, the busiest international route within the region is the one connecting Orlando, Florida, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 2.3 million seats.

Domestic routes are far busier than international ones when it comes to the variety of scheduled seats.

The world's busiest route runs in South Korea, connecting Seoul to Jeju Island. According to OAG, there have been around 14.2 million seats available on the route in 2024, which equates to around 39,000 seats per day.

This is despite capability on the route still being 19% below pre-pandemic levels, the corporate said.

According to the report, nine of the highest 10 busiest domestic routes in 2024 shall be in Asia Pacific.

The route connecting Hokkaido to Tokyo is available in at number 2, followed by one other route in Japan – one connecting the town of Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda.

China's busiest airline connects its two largest cities – Beijing and Shanghai – with about 7.7 million seats, just ahead of the 7 million seats that fly between Guangzhou and Shanghai.

According to OAG, seats on the latter route fell in comparison with 2023 levels, which Grant described as a “readjustment” to 2019 schedules.

“During the pandemic, local Chinese airlines have diverted international capacity to domestic flights and there has been a sharp increase on this route,” he said. “What we are now seeing is the realignment of capacity back to more normal levels as Chinese airlines slowly begin offering more international services again.”

The biggest growth on this list is in Saudi Arabia, where seats on the route between Jeddah and Riyadh increased by 9% in comparison with 2019.

The busiest route in Africa connects South Africa's Cape Town with Johannesburg (5 million seats) and in Europe, Spain's Barcelona with the island of Mallorca (2.9 million seats).

The busiest route within the United States connects Atlanta and Orlando (3.5 million seats), however the busiest route in North America is the one in Canada, connecting Vancouver and Toronto (3,498,835 seats).