List of the busiest air routes in the world: Jeju-Seoul, Melbourne-Sydney, Sapporo-Tokyo and…..

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With more than 13.4 million people traveling on the short-haul domestic service, the 450 km journey from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to the island of Jeju off the coast of the Korean Peninsula has once again claimed the title as the most in-demand air route in the world.

With more than 13.4 million people traveling on the short-haul domestic service, the 450 km journey from Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to the island of Jeju off the coast of the Korean Peninsula has once again claimed the title as the most in-demand air route in the world.

The route has an average of 180 scheduled flights per day – thatโ€™s one every 8 minutes – transporting mainly leisure travelers from South Koreaโ€™s dense capital city to the island, famed for its white sandy beach resorts and volcanic landscape.

A total of 13,460,305 passengers flew between Seoul and Jeju in 2017, an increase of 9.4% on the previous 12 months when the route was also ranked as the busiest in the world. It carried a staggering 4,369,364 more people than the second busiest, Melbourne – Sydney Kingsford Smith.

Although the United States remains the worldโ€™s largest aviation market, the analysis found that air services in the Asia-Pacific region dominate the top 100 busiest routes by passenger numbers, accounting for more than 70% of the total.

Hong Kong – Taiwan Taoyuan is the busiest international route and features as the 8th most popular overall, with 6,719,029 passengers flying the 802 km in 2017. Hong Kong, the home hub for Cathay Pacific, features in six of the top ten international routes.

The study also found that the Thai domestic route of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Chiang Mai is the fastest-growing route in the top 100. Two-way passenger numbers grew by 36% year-on-year to almost 2.4 million.

The research has been released as 3,000 aviation professionals prepare to gather at World Routes 2018, taking place from 15-18 September in Guangzhou, China. The event is a global meeting place for airlines, airports and tourism organizations to discuss new market opportunities and the evolution of existing services.

The busiest routes in the world were calculated by using OAG Schedules Analyser to find the top 500 routes by overall seat capacity in 2017.

The top 10 busiest scheduled passenger routes in the world:

Passengers (2017)

1ย ย ย  Jeju – Seoul Gimpo (CJU-GMP)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  13460306
2ย ย ย  Melbourne – Sydney Kingsford Smith (MEL-SYD)ย ย ย  9090941
3ย ย ย  Sapporo – Tokyo Haneda (CTS-HND)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  8726502
4ย ย ย  Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda (FUK-HND)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  7864000
5ย ย ย  Mumbai – Delhi (BOM-DEL)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  7129943
6ย ย ย  Beijing Capital – Shanghai Hongqiao (PEK-SHA)ย ย ย  6833684
7ย ย ย  Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City (HAN-SGN)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  6769823
8ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Taiwan Taoyuan (HKG-TPE)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  6719030
9ย ย ย  Jakarta – Juanda Surabaya (CGK-SUB)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  5271304
10ย ย ย  Tokyo Haneda – Okinawa (HND-OKA)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  5269481

The top 10 busiest scheduled international passenger routes in the world:

Passengers (2017)

1ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Taiwan Taoyuan (HKG-TPE)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  6719030
2ย ย ย  Jakarta – Singapore Changi (CGK-SIN)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  4810602
3ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Shanghai Pudong (HKG-PVG)ย ย ย  4162347
4ย ย ย  Kuala Lumpur – Singapore Changi (KUL-SIN)ย ย ย  4108824
5ย ย ย  Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Hong Kong (BKK-HKG)ย ย ย  3438628
6ย ย ย  Dubai – London Heathrow (DXB-LHR)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  3210121
7ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Seoul Incheon (HKG-ICN)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  3198132
8ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Singapore Changi (HKG-SIN)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  3147384
9ย ย ย  New York JFK – London Heathrow (JFK-LHR)ย ย ย  2972817
10ย  ย Hong Kong – Beijing Capital (HKG-PEK)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  2962707

The top 10 fastest-growing scheduled passenger air routes in the top 100:

Year-on-year growth

1ย ย ย  Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Chiang Mai (BKK-CNX)ย ย ย  36.0%
2ย ย ย  Seoul Incheon – Kansai International (ICN-KIX)ย ย ย  30.3%
3ย ย ย  Jakarta – Kuala Lumpur (CGK-KUL)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  29.4%
4ย ย ย  Delhi – Pune (DEL-PNQ)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  20.6%
5ย ย ย  Chengdu – Shenzhen Bao’an (CTU-SZX)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  16.8%
6ย ย ย  Hong Kong – Shanghai Pudong (HKG-PVG)ย ย ย  15.5%
7ย ย ย  Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Phuket (BKK-HKT)ย ย ย  14.9%
8ย ย ย  Jeddah – Riyadh King Kalid (JED-RUH)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  13.9%
9ย ย ย  Jakarta – Kualanamu (CGK-KNO)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  13.9%
10ย ย ย  Kolkata – Delhi (CCU-DEL)ย ย ย  ย ย ย  ย ย ย  13.4%

 

SOURCE: UBM

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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