Seven of the top 10 busiest international routes in the world during 2023 are in the Asia-Pacific region, with Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) taking the top spot.
Airlines have offered more than 4.9 million seats between the Malaysian capital and Singapore in 2023, according to data provided by OAG, which was enough for the short 184-mi. (160-nm) route to be crowned the busiest globally. The sector is currently served by seven carriers, led by AirAsia with a 30% capacity share of the market.
Overall, there are 4,891,952 available seats between KUL and SIN this year, marking a drop of 12% on 2019 levels when the route was the second busiest in the world. However, the figure is enough to push Cairo-Jeddah into second place having been ranked the busiest in 2022. Overall, there are about 36 return flights per day between KUL and SIN.
The market between Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) and Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), which was the busiest international route in 2019, positions third in 2023. Capacity jumped by 130% this year compared with 2022 to total 4,568,280 seats. Despite the increase, the total represents a 43% drop on pre-pandemic levels.
The only route in the top 10 not to involve an origin or destination in the Asia-Pacific or Middle East regions is between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, which ranks as the eighth busiest. There were 3,878,590 available seats between the destinations this year, equating to a year-on-year rise of 24% and growth of 1% on 2019.
Looking at the overall busiest routes during 2023, each of the top 10 are in domestic markets. The busiest globally is once again between Seoul’s Gimpo Airport (GMP) and Jeju (CJU) off the coast of the Korean Peninsula.
Carriers have provided 13,728,786 seats on the 280-mi. (243-nm) sector in 2023, which is a 21% drop on the total offered in 2019. OAG data shows that seven carriers currently operate flights between the destinations, collectively providing about 96 return services per day.
The second- and third-busiest routes are both Japanese domestic flights, with Hokkaido’s Chitose Airport (CTS)-Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND) taking second on 11.9 million seats, followed by Fukuoka (FUK)-Tokyo Haneda with 11.3 million seats.
Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) is the fourth-busiest route globally with 10.9 million seats and Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD) is the fifth with 9.3 million seats. Jakarta (CGK) to Denpasar (DPS) is in 10th place and is the only route in the top 10 which did not appear in the list in 2019.
In the U.S., the world’s largest aviation market, Honolulu (HNL)-Kahului (OGG) is the busiest domestic service with 3.6 million seats, narrowly ahead of Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport-Orlando International Airport on 3.51 million. Las Vegas-Los Angeles ranked third on 3.5 million.
Meanwhile in China, the busiest domestic route is between Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) with 8.4 million seats. Guangzhou (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao is the second-busiest domestic China service with 7.2 million seats, and Shenzhen (SZX) to Shanghai Hongqiao is in third with 7 million seats.
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