Top 10 world’s busiest flight routes

… and the rising stars

So where is the world’s busiest airline route? Beijing to Shanghai? New York to Los Angeles?

Eight of the Top 10 routes are based in Asia and nine out of ten of the world’s fastest-growing flight routes are also in Asia. You get the idea.

Whilst the US has the world’s largest aviation market it’s Asia that controls the skies when it comes to in-demand air routes, according to routesonline.com

So the busiest airline route in the world?

It’s a short hop from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to the island of Jeju, located off the coast of South Korea, a mere 450 kilometre hop – about 30 minutes in the air. In 2017 more than 13.4 million people traveled the route from the South Korean capital to Jeju. The world’s most popular flight route has 180 scheduled flights every day – that’s one every eight minutes.

Jeju Island. The flight from Seoul is the busiest airline route in the world

Coming in number two is the one hour flight between Australia’s two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney. This route carried just over nine million passengers during 2017.

Put into perspective, the Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 70% of the world’s 100 busiest routes, measured by passenger numbers.

Japan leads the way in Asia as one of the busiest destinations in the world. Three of its domestic flight routes among the most popular. Sapporo’s Chitose Airport to Tokyo Haneda Airport. Fukuoka Airport to Tokyo’s Haneda and Haneda to Okinawa Naha Airport.

Hong Kong International Airport to Taipei Taoyuan Airport was named as the world’s busiest international route – 6.7 million passengers flying the 802 kilometre journey in 2017.

In comparison, the popular JFK New York to Heathrow London carried just 3 million passengers last year.

You can read the full report HERE.

Melbourne to Sydney, the world’s second busiest flight route

Top 10 world busiest scheduled passenger routes for 2017

1. Jeju to Seoul Gimpo – 13,460,306 passengers

2. Melbourne to Sydney Kingsford Smith – 9,090,941 passengers

3. Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda – 8,726,502 passengers

4. Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda – 7,864,000 passengers

5. Mumbai to Delhi – 7,129,943 passengers

6. Beijing Capital to Shanghai Hongqiao – 6,833,684 passengers

7. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City – 6,769,823 passengers

8. Hong Kong to Taiwan Taoyuan – 6,719, 030 passengers

9. Jakarta to Juanda Surabaya – 5,271,304 passengers

10. Tokyo Haneda to Okinawa – 5,269,481 passengers

Top 10 world busiest scheduled international routes for 2017

1. Hong Kong to Taiwan Taoyuan – 6,719,030 passengers

2. Jakarta to Singapore Changi – 4,810,602 passengers

3. Hong Kong to Shanghai Pudong – 4,162,347 passengers

4. Kuala Lumpur to Singapore Changi – 4,108,824 passengers

5. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Hong Kong – 3,438,628 passengers

6. Dubai to London Heathrow – 3,210,121 passengers

7. Hong Kong to Seoul Incheon – 3,198,132 passengers

8. Hong Kong to Singapore Changi – 3,147,384 passengers

9. New York JFK to London Heathrow – 2,972,817 passengers

10. Hong Kong – Beijing Capital – 2,962,707 passengers

Top 10 fastest-growing scheduled air routes (year-on-year growth)

1. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Chiang Mai – 36.0%

2. Seoul Incheon to Kansai International – 30.3%

3. Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur – 29.4%

4. Delhi to Pune – 20.6%

5. Chengdu to Shenzhen Bao’an – 16.8%

6. Hong Kong to Shanghai Pudong – 15.5%

7. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Phuket – 14.9%

8. Jeddah to Riyadh King Khalid – 13.9%

9. Jakarta to Kualanamu – 13.9%

10. Kolkata to Delhi – 13.4%