According to the latest annual ranking released by travel information company OAG, the route from Hong Kong to Taipei has been named the busiest international route globally in 2024, with nearly 6.8 million seats sold. As for domestic routes, the one from Jeju International in South Korea to Seoul Gimpo tops the list with around 14.2 million seats sold in 2024.
OAG’s annual report on the busiest routes of 2024 analyzed aviation data from January to December, providing insights into the performance and trends of various routes worldwide.
The Hong Kong-Taipei route claimed the top spot as the busiest international route in 2024 with a total of 6,781,577 seats sold. While it ranked 3rd in 2023, this route held the top position in 2019. Despite a 48% increase in capacity compared to the previous year, it still remains 15% lower than 2019 levels.
The report mentioned that in 2024, with the ongoing recovery of the Asia-Pacific region post-COVID-19 pandemic, there was significant growth in capacity across all routes in the region, with the Hong Kong-Taipei route experiencing the largest increase.
In the ranking of the busiest international routes following Hong Kong-Taipei, the Cairo to Jeddah route took the second spot with 5,469,274 seats sold in 2024. This Egypt-Saudi Arabia route has shown remarkable growth over the past five years, rising from 14th place in 2019 to 2nd place in 2023 and 2024, with a capacity increase of 14% in 2024 compared to 2023 and 62% compared to 2019.
Seoul Incheon to Tokyo Narita claimed the third position with 5,410,456 seats sold in 2024. This South Korea to Japan route also saw impressive growth in rankings from 16th in 2019 to 3rd in 2024.
In terms of domestic routes, the top three globally are in Asia, including Jeju International to Seoul Gimpo in South Korea, Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Haneda in Japan, and Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda in Japan.
Below are the top 10 busiest domestic routes:
1. Jeju International to Seoul Gimpo: 14,183,719 seats sold.
2. Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Haneda: 11,931,572 seats sold.
3. Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda: 11,335,551 seats sold.
4. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City: 10,631,435 seats sold.
5. Melbourne to Sydney: 9,217,377 seats sold.
6. Jeddah to Riyadh: 8,700,415 seats sold.
7. Tokyo Haneda to Okinawa Naha: 8,033,641 seats sold.
8. Mumbai to Delhi: 7,963,686 seats sold.
9. Beijing to Shanghai Hongqiao: 7,714,758 seats sold.
10. Guangzhou Baiyun to Shanghai Hongqiao: 7,010,321 seats sold.