OAG Aviation has released its 2024 report of the world’s megahubs, with vast data on the world’s most connected airports. Their top 50 list includes many in Europe, but what airlines dominate this market?

10

Vueling at Barcelona

The tenth most significant European megahub is Barcelona, ranked 43 among the global megahubs. This airport has 23,204 connections and 227 connections.

Barcelona_Vueling_Airbus_A320_EC-MDZ

Barcelona is dominated by vueling

, specializing in flying Airbus A319 and A320 to European destinations. They have 5,477 flights in March 2025, with over 1 million seats. The localized nature of their operations is exemplified by their average flight length of just 566 miles.

As with many of Europe’s megahub carriers, Gatwick in London is one of their most popular destinations. Vueling has over 40,000 seats flying this route in March 2025 on the A320 and A319. This is likely due to the popularity of Barcelona as a holiday destination for British customers and of London for their Spanish passengers. Palma de Mallorca is another popular destination for travelers from Barcelona with over 65,000 sets, likely hoping to catch some early spring sun.

9

Aegean Airlines at Athens

Next on OAG’s list is Athens, ranked 37 for global hubs. Athens has a slightly lower number of connections (20,144) and destinations (178) than Barcelona.

Athens is also dominated by a similar carrier, Aegean Airlines

, who favors small Airbus jets traveling short routes. Their fleet is dominated by the “neo” variants of the A321 and A320, with an average flight length of 728 miles.

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Photo: Rakoon | Wikimedia Commons

Aegean Airlines’ flights are primarily to destinations in Europe. A key destination includes Madrid, with 43 flights in March 2025. However, Aegean also flies further east than most other megahub carriers. Its most significant destination in the Middle East is Istanbul, with 107 flights. Other Middle Eastern destinations include Abu Dhabi (5 flights) and Jeddah (14 flights).

8

ITA Airways at Rome Fiumicino

Rome Fiumicinio is ranked 35th on OAG’s list. This hub has risen rapidly from its rank of 42 in the 2023 list. Dominated by ITA Airways

, Fiumicino has 29,596 connections and 249 destinations.

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ITA Airways flies to a slightly more diverse range of destinations than the two hubs previously on this list, reflected by their higher average miles in March 2025 of 996. This includes African destinations – such as Accra – a substantial range of North and South American airports and a small selection of Asian destinations, like Bangkok. ITA Airways managed an impressive 64 flights to New York.

Yet, ITA’s services are still dominated by short-haul European journeys, dominated against Airbus’ small jets. Their A220s, A221, A223s, and A319s are set to make the short 249-mile hop to Genoa well over 100 times.

7

Iberia at Madrid–Barajas Airport

Fourth on the list is yet another Spanish airport. Madrid-Barajas is ranked 28 globally, with 241 destinations and 32,912 connections.

Iberia

dominates the Madrid-Barajas departures hall, representing another substantial step up in distance flown on this list. The average across their 4,109 flights set for March 2025 is 1,674 miles long, with over 850,000 seats on these journeys.

Aeropuerto_de_Madrid-Barajas_T4_Iberia
Photo: Usien | Wikimedia Commons

One reason for this jump is the strong variety of destinations in central and southern America. For example, Iberia has 27 flights this March, making the 5,286-mile trip to San Jose, Costa Rica. Iberia also operates many flights out of MAD to its Mediterranean neighbors. The roughly 38,000 seats to Rome in March is one example.

6

Lufthansa at Munich

Sixth in our list of European megahubs is Munich, Germany, ranked 25th in OAG’s list of Global megahubs. This airport has 234 destinations and 32,616 connections. Lufthansa

will fly 4,802 times in March 2025 with just shy of a million seats and an average flight distance of 1,225 miles.

This airline’s Munich operations are somewhat dominated by domestic travel, flying to some German cities over 100 times. For example, Dusseldorf, just 303 miles away, will be served by almost 200 Lufthansa flights. Lufthansa also has some super-short options, operating from Munich into Switzerland. They will have 24 flights making the 162-mile journey to Zurich this March.

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Photo: Kevin.B | Wikimedia Commons

That is not to say that Lufthansa is neglecting its long-haul duties from Munich, allowing them to maintain a relatively high average flight distance of 1,225 miles. One of its longest is the 6,252-mile journey to Singapore, which will be made 31 times in March, offering almost 10,000 seats aboard their A350-900s.

5

Lufthansa at Frankfurt

Next on the list is another Lufthansa-dominated German airport, this time in the nation’s center. FRA has a substantially higher 309 destinations with 60,622 connections. This yields a much higher Lufthansa flights at 8,638 with 1,676,732 seats. These journeys average 1,139 miles.

Lufthansa Airbus A320 Taxiing In Frankfurt

Photo: Jake Hardiman | Simple Flying

These flights have characteristics similar to those of Lufthansa’s flights from Munich, albeit with a much greater variety. They offer hundreds of domestic flights to destinations including Hannover and Hamburg. Predictably, most of these seats are on flights to Berlin, with well over 60,000 across the month.

Lufthansa also runs daily flights to East Asia throughout March. They offer 8,711 seats to Hong Kong and 11,284 to Tokyo Haneda.

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4

Turkish Airlines at Istanbul

Istanbul is one of Europe’s megacities, with over 15 million inhabitants. It is no surprise they are serviced by one of the continent’s most substantial hubs. Istanbul Airport is ranked eighth on OAG’s list of global megahubs.

Istanbul is dominated by its national provider, Turkish Airlines

. It has a compatible range to Frankfurt with 324 destinations and 66,063 connections, yet its output is far greater. Turkish Airlines will operate over 15,000 flights out of Istanbul in March 2025 with over 3 million seats. These journeys will usually be longer than the megahubs previously mentioned on this list, with an average of 1,517 miles.

Turkish_Airlines_above_Istanbul
Photo: LWY | Wikimedia Commons

Fitting for a capital straddling Europe and Asia, Istanbul Airlines has a good variety of Turkish Airlines flights to both continents. One popular European destination is Athens, which has over three flights a day. Turkish Airlines also fly over 100 times monthly to Beirut, Lebanon, with over 10,000 seats.

3

Air France at Paris Charles De Gaulle (CDG)

Next on the list is one step higher in the OAG ranking: Paris CDG. Dominated by Air France

, which has a 56% share of the flights, this megahub offers 291 destinations and 62,559 connections.

Air France has a huge number of monthly flights from Paris CDG at 7,760, averaging a reasonably high 1,763 miles in distance. These flights accumulate to a little over 1.5 million seats.

Air France Airbus A350-900 at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport CDG shutterstock_2400347961

Photo: Freddy Florent | Shutterstock

Many of these seats are on flights making the short hop across the English Channel. Air France had 176 flights in March,, making the 216-mile journey to London-Heathrow and a little over 80 flying 366 miles to Manchester.

Air France also uses Paris CDG as a hub to fly to territories worldwide with which France has historical ties. For example, there are 21 flights on Air France’s Boeing 777 variants to Mauritius. The carrier’s flights include popular destinations across America, such as Chicago, Phoenix, and Mexico City.

2

KLM at Amsterdam Schiphol

The dominant carrier from the Dutch capital’s airport is KLM

Royal Dutch Airlines, who enjoy a 55% share of the flights from Schiphol. This airport has dropped one place in the rankings. There are 276 destinations, yielding 62,744 connections.

Despite being ranked higher on the OAG megahubs list, KLM’s Schiphol operations represent a slight drop in the number of flights. In March, they will make just shy of 5,000 journeys, with a little over one million seats.

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The types of journeys made are compatible with Air France, with an average length of 1,849 miles. As such, there is a good variety of European, South and North American, and Asian destinations. They make marginally fewer journeys to Heathrow with 97 flights, but a little more to Manchester at just under 150.

KLM’s flights from Schiphol are also noteworthy for their good offerings for African destinations. They will travel 31 times to Johannesburg, South Africa, aboard their Boeing 777 variants. Further flights will be made to Kilimanjaro, Kigali, and more.

1

British Airways at London Heathrow

The most significant megahub in the world and Europe is London Heathrow, securing the top spot, which they also held in 2023. This airport has 227 destinations and 61,536 connections.

British Airways aircraft

The British capital’s largest airport is dominated by British Airways

, which currently has a 50% share of the flights. They operate roughly twice as often as KLM, with 10,249 flights and 2,054,253 seats. However, their average distance covered across March 2025 is compatible at 1,527 miles.

Many British Airways flights from London Heathrow are to the most popular tourist destinations for British holidaymakers looking to escape the rain. Destinations include the party islands of Ibiza, Thessaloniki, and Mallorca.

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