These flight routes experience high passenger demand, and significant air traffic, often due to economic activities, tourism, and population density.
Understanding what makes a flight route “busy” involves examining factors such as passenger volume, business and tourism demand, regional connectivity, and airline competition.
Powered by OAG Aviation, the Busiest Flight Routes Report for 2024 examines data spanning from January to December 2024, offering a comprehensive view of route performance and trends.
The busiest air routes are defined as those with the largest volume of scheduled airline seats in the year 2024. Included in the report is data for flights in both directions on each route.
The annual Busiest Routes report is collated from the monthly ‘Busiest Routes Right Now‘ reports, which are sourced from the OAG Schedules Analyzer in the first week of each month.
The data reflects the most recent year for the busiest scheduled domestic and international aviation routes in each category.
The table below shows the busiest international air routes in 2024;
| Rank | Route Name | Seats |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Hong Kong – Taipei |
6,781,577 |
|
2 |
Cairo – Jeddah |
5,469,274 |
|
3 |
Seoul Incheon – Tokyo Narita |
5,410,456 |
|
4 |
Kuala Lumpur – Singapore Changi |
5,382,163 |
|
5 |
Seoul Incheon – Osaka Kansai |
4,982,769 |
|
6 |
Dubai – Riyadh |
4,306,599 |
|
7 |
Bangkok – Hong Kong |
4,201,802 |
|
8 |
Jakarta – Singapore Changi |
4,069,071 |
|
9 |
Bangkok – Singapore Changi |
4,033,344 |
|
10 |
New York JFK – London Heathrow |
4,011,235 |
The busiest international airline route in 2024 is Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE), with 6.8 million seats.
In second place among the Top 10 busiest international routes is Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED), representing Africa, with 5.5 million seats.
Taking third place is the Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) route, with 5.4 million seats, just 58,818 seats (–1.1%) behind the second position.
