OAG Travel News

Last week I took a vacation and spent a long weekend on Hawaii’s Big Island.  As I was enjoying the warm trade winds, my thoughts naturally turned to air service on islands.  So this week I chose seven islands – all similar sizes – and analyzed their levels of commercial flights.  The results are quite interesting in that islands of similar size have quite varied levels of air service.

Bahrain – 253 square miles (665 square kilometers)
The Kingdom of Bahrain is situated in the Persian Gulf, just east of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and west of the State of Qatar.  Bahrain International Airport (BAH) – the country’s only commercial airport – is located Maharraq on the northern tip of Bahrain near the capital of Manama.  Over 50 destinations are served nonstop from Bahrain, including cities in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.  Bahrain is home to two airlines – Gulf Air and Bahrain Airlines – and nearly 30 additional airlines provide nonstop service to BAH.  This tiny country boasts significant levels of air service as the country works to compete with other regional hubs including Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

Corfu, Greece – 229 square miles (593 square kilometers)
Situated in the Ionain Sea at the border between Greece and Albania, Corfu is the second-largest of the Ionian Islands.  The island’s one airport – Ioannis Kapodistrias International (CFU) – provides nonstop flights to three Greek cities.  Both Aegean Airlines and Olympic Airways provide service to the capital city of Athens.  In addition, Olympic links Corfu with both Thessaloniki and Preveza/Lefkas.

Guam, U.S. Territory – 209 square miles (541 square kilometers)
The Territory of Guam is part of the Micronesia region in the Pacific Ocean.  Officially Guam is territory of the United States.  Seven airlines serve the island’s only airport – Antonio B. Won Pat International – located near the capital city of Hagatna.  Of the 19 cities served nonstop from Guam (GUM), only Honolulu is in the United States.  Guam is linked with neighboring islands in Micronesia in addition to cities in Japan, the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan and Australia.  Guam serves as a hub for Continental Micronesia which operates nearly 20 daily departures.

Molokai, Hawaii, USA – 260 square miles (673 square kilometers)
Also known as the “Friendly Isle”, Molokai is the fifth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands.  Unlike most of the other islands reviewed here, Molokai has two commercial service airports – Molokai Airport (MKK) and Kalaupapa Airport (LUP).  MKK is the larger of the two airports, and has competitive service to Honolulu, Oahu (four airlines serving this route) and to Kahului, Maui (a second four-airline market).  Service from Kalaupapa is limited to three daily flights to Molokai Airport in Kaunakakai.

Phuket, Thailand – 210 square miles (544 square kilometers)
Ranking as Thailand’s largest island, Phuket is located off the west coast of the country in the Andaman Sea.  Popular for diving and its beaches, Phuket welcomes millions of tourists every year.  Many of these tourists arrive at Phuket International Airport (HKT).  Twenty-one airlines provided nonstop service from Phuket to 16 destinations – most are in Asia, but several are in Europe (Helsinki, Milan and Munich).  Only two domestic airports – both in the capital city of Bangkok – are served by air from Phuket.

San Cristobal, Ecuador – 215 square miles (557 square kilometers)
San Cristobal Island – also known as Chatham Island – is part of the famous Galapagos archipelago.  Of all the islands examined here, San Cristobal has the least amount of air service.  Combined, two airlines – TAME Ecuador and Aerolineas Galapagos (Aerogal) – offer daily nonstop service from San Cristobal (SCY) to Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Singapore – 270 square miles (699  square kilometers)
Last – but certainly not least – is Singapore.  With nearly 300 daily departures, Singapore’s air service is much larger than you would expect for an island nation of its size.  The country’s largest commercial service airport – Singapore Changi International (SIN) – happens to rank as one of the busiest airports in the world.  From Abu Dhabi to Zurich and points in between, Singapore enjoys nonstop service to over 100 worldwide destinations on nearly 60 airlines.  Singapore Airlines, its subsidiary SilkAir, Tiger Airways, JetStar Asia and Valuair are all headquartered in Singapore.  Singapore’s second airport – Seletar (XPS) – was Singapore’s first international airport.  Today only one airline – Malaysia-based Berjaya Air – provides four times weekly service from Seletar to nearby Tioman Island (Malaysia).

A final note
A final interesting point to make… All of the islands reviewed here are smaller than the King Fahd International Airport (DMM) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.  Encompassing 301 square miles (780 square kilometers), DMM is the largest airport in the world in terms of land area.

Source: Official Airline Guide (OAG) Schedule Tapes.

Note: Includes data for scheduled commercial flights to commercial service airports; no charter activity is included.

OAG contributor Laura Jackson was just two weeks old when she took her first flight on Piedmont Airlines.  In junior high school, she developed a business plan for her own airline.  Today she manages strategy and policy issues at one of the world's busiest airports and provides original content and aviation industry analysis for OAG.