There were 10 routes in 2024 that had an average daily frequency of 100 flights or more (or more than four flights per hour). Of these, seven were in greater Asia, one in Australia, and two in South America. None were in North America, Europe, or Africa, and all the busiest flights were domestic flights. Most of the busiest routes
are between the country’s largest cities (e.g., Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City), but some are to leisure destinations (like Jeju
in South Korea).
In the United States, the four busiest routes are
Atlanta-Orlando, Honolulu-Kahului, Las Vegas-Los Angeles, and Denver-Phoenix. However, none of these make the list below.
Separately, according to data compiled by OAG, the busiest day for air travel in 2024 was 2nd August (a Friday). That day, airline seat capacity was 19,278,320, surpassing 2023’s busiest day by almost 700,000 seats. It was 18% higher than the average for the year (around 16 million seats). Thanksgiving Day was the quietest day in 2024, with only 14,871,278 seats scheduled by airlines. Meanwhile, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains
the busiest airport in the world
, while
the US still has the largest airlines in the world when measured by number of aircraft
. Here are the five busiest routes in the world by number of aircraft flown.
5
Fukuoka to Haneda Airport
There were 112 daily flights FUK-HND
Scheduled flights: |
1,767 (scheduled January 2025) |
---|---|
Total seats: |
499,497 (scheduled January 2025) |
Country: |
Japan |
The fifth-busiest route in the world was from Japan’s Fukuoka Airport to Haneda Airport in Toyko. Fukuka (previously called Itazuke Air Base) is the primary airport on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu (and is the fourth-busiest airport in Japan overall). The airport also has the fourth busiest single-runway airport in the world (after Mumbai, Gatwick, and Sabiha Gokcen in Istanbul). Meanwhile, Haneda is the busiest of the two main airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area (the second being Narita International Airport). There were 1,767 flights and half a million seats scheduled for January 2025.
Photo: Paul Atkinson | Shutterstock
This route was dominated by All Nippon Airways
and Japan Airlines
. Almost all the aircraft operated on this route were Boeing aircraft (Boeing 737s, 767s, 777s, and 787s), and the only Airbus type on the route was the A320 operated by All Nippon. Notably, most of the flights on the route were wide-bodied aircraft. Rounding out the top ten list of busiest routes in 2024 were Mumbai to Delhi with 108 daily flights, Japan’s New Chitose Airport in Hokkaido to Tokyo’s Haneda with 108 flights, Brazil’s São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro’s Santos Dumont Airport with 103 flights, Bogota’s El Dorado to Medellín with 101 flights, and Indonesia’s Jakarta to Sultan Hasanuddin South Sulawesi with 100 flights. This means that Japan’s Haneda Airport claims two of the world’s ten busiest routes. Of all these busiest routes, perhaps the most surprising is Indonesia’s Jakarta to Sulta Hasanuddin Airport in the island of Sulawesi.
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4
Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh
There were 114 daily flights HAN-SGN
Scheduled flights: |
1,803 (scheduled January 2025) |
---|---|
Total seats: |
429,594 (scheduled January 2025) |
Country: |
Vietnam |
The fourth-busiest route is from the northern Vietnamese capital city of Hanoi to the southern city of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). These are the two largest cities in Vietnam, and the populations of the metropolitan areas of the cities are similar to each other. The route is served by Vietravel Airlines, Vietjet
, Vietnam Airlines
, and Bamboo Airways. The Airbus A321 is particularly popular on the route, as it is flown there by all four airlines. Overall, 1,803 flights are scheduled to fly between the two Vietnamese cities in January 2025. Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport is the busiest in the country and is now overcrowded. A new airport is being built outside the city while a new terminal is being built at the airport. However, expansion of the airport is constrained by being located within the city.
Photo: Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport
In 2024, the Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh route had 112 daily flights. In January 2025, Airbus narrow-bodied aircraft dominate the scheduled air route. There are 41 scheduled flights with the wide-bodied A330 and 168 flights with the even larger Airbus A350
. The Airbus A350 is the largest Airbus airliner in production and is designed to serve long- and ultra-long-haul routes around the world. The only Boeing aircraft on the route is the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (with 365 flights scheduled). Vietnam Airlines operates all the A350s and Boeing 787s on the route (Vietnam Airlines is the flag carrier of Vietnam).
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3
Jeddah to Riyadh
There were 117 daily flights JED-RUH
Scheduled flights: |
1,879 (scheduled January 2025) |
---|---|
Total seats: |
377,527 (scheduled January 2025) |
Country: |
Saudi Arabia |
Saudi Arabia has the third-busiest route in the world with 117 daily flights between the coastal Saudi city of Jeddah and the inland capital of Riyadh. The route is flown by Saudia
(formally called Saudi Arabian Airlines), the flag carrier of the kingdom. Saudia is based in Jeddah, and its two primary hubs are King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. it operates flights to over 100 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America; it also operates a particularly large number of charter flights during the Ramadan and Hajj seasons.
Photo: Ayman Zaid | Shutterstock.com
Saudia operates A320s, A330s, Boeing 777s, and Boeing 787s on the route. Additionally, many of the flights are offered by two Saudi Arabian low-cost carriers – Flynas and flyadeal. The only aircraft type that flyadeal operates on the route is the A320neo (with 581 flights scheduled for January), while Flynas only operates the A320 (with 587 flights scheduled for January). Together, 1,879 flights are scheduled for January 2025, carrying a total of 377,527 seats. The smaller aircraft mean that even though there are more flights on this route than the two routes listed above, the number of seats is considerably fewer.
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2
Melbourne to Sydney
There were 138 daily flights MEL-SYD
Scheduled flights: |
1,904 (scheduled January 2025) |
---|---|
Total seats: |
347,105 (scheduled January 2025) |
Country: |
Australia |
Perhaps surprisingly, Australia had the second-busiest route in the world by number of daily flights in 2024. This is even though the country has a comparatively low population of around 26.6 million (fewer than the state of Texas, with a population of 30.5 million). Australia’s capital is Canberra, but it is a comparatively small city set in the mountains away from the coast. The two largest cities are Sydney and Melbourne, which are in the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Even though these are small major cities by international standards, they have the second-busiest air route in the world (Greater Sydney is home to around 5.5 million, while Greater Melbourne is home to around 5.2 million).
Photo: EQRoy I Shutterstock
The airlines serving the route are
Qantas (the Australian flag carrier)
, Jetstar (a low-cost subsidiary of Qantas), and Virgin Australia. Jetstar is scheduled to operate mostly Airbus A320/A321/A321neos on the route but also operates 10 flights with the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. Most of Qantas’s scheduled flights are flown with Boeing 737-family aircraft (a total of 630 flights of the family in January). Additionally, Qantas operates some widebody aircraft (A330-200s, A330-300s, and Boeing 787-9s). Virgin Australia is scheduled to operate 691 flights with Boeing 737 family aircraft. It is unclear why this Aussie route is busier than North American routes (like San Francisco to Los Angeles or Los Angeles to NYC).
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This month alone, there are 763,636 seats available on this route – making it the fifth busiest domestic air corridor in the world.
1
Jeju to Seoul
There were 199 daily flights CJU-GMP
Scheduled flights: |
3,054 (scheduled January 2025) |
---|---|
Total seats: |
589,181 (scheduled January 2025) |
Country: |
South Korea |
It seems the only leisure route to make it the top-ten busiest routes in the world is from Seoul to Jeju (Jeju is South Korea’s enormously popular island). Jeju International Airport is the second-largest airport in South Korea (just behind Incheon Airport, the primary gateway to Seoul). While Incheon Airport is the top international airport serving Seoul, Seoul’s secondary airport, Seoul-Gimpo, has most of the flights to Jeju. In 2023, over 13.7 million people flew from Seoul-Gimpo to Jeju. The population of the island of Jeju is less than 700,000 people, meaning it is only a very small fraction of the country’s population.
Photo: Jeang Herng | Shutterstock
An enormous 3,054 flights are scheduled for the month of January 2025, making it comfortably the busiest air route in the world by number of aircraft (that’s over a thousand flights more than the next busiest route). The number of scheduled seats is 589,181. That means it also has the most scheduled seats of any route on this list, although not vastly more than Japan’s Fukuoka Airport to Haneda-Tokyo (which has around 500,000 scheduled seats). Most aircraft flying between Seoul-Gimpo and Jeju are narrowbody aircraft, with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A321 family being particularly popular. Wide-bodied aircraft on the route include the Airbus A330 (with 62 flights) and the Boeing 767 (with 112 flights). That means no large, widebody aircraft are scheduled for the route (unlike the Japanese route).
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Why Jeju To Seoul Is The World’s Busiest Route
The route retained its position over the COVID pandemic.