Busiest Flight Routes

In the World

WHICH ARE THE WORLD'S BUSIEST FLIGHT ROUTES? - MAY 2023


View and interrogate OAG’s ever-popular Busiest Airline Routes whenever you need as they evolve and change over time, regularly providing updates on the busiest flight routes in the world. These include the Top 10 Busiest Global Airline Routes, Top 10 Domestic Airline Routes and International Airline Routes by region. Our world flight routes data is powered by Schedules Analyser.

Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) is the busiest international route this month with 436,939 seats.  Find extensive flight data and analysis for domestic and international airline routes below and discover the busiest air routes in the area of your choice.

BUSIEST FLIGHT ROUTES IN THE WORLD | DOWNLOAD DATA

BUSIEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE ROUTES - MAY 2023


GLOBAL TOP 10 BUSIEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE ROUTES

KEY POINTS

  • All of the Top 10 domestic routes in the world, as measured by airline capacity (seats), are located in Asia Pacific and the Middle East with 8 routes in Asia, 1 in Australia and 1 in Saudi Arabia. 
  • Jeju (CJU) to Seoul (GMP) is the busiest domestic route in the world with 1.2 million seats in May 2023, capacity has increased by 10% this month compared to last month.
  • Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) continues in second place with 1 million seats and Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) moves up 1 place to 3rd with 951,488 seats. 
  • Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) has dropped to fourth place in May with 908,298 seats.
  • Jakarta (CGK) to Denpasar (DPS) has had the biggest increase in seats in May 2023 compared to last month with 13% more seats. 

CHINA'S TOP 10 BUSIEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE ROUTES

KEY POINTS

  • The Top 10 domestic routes in China remain unchanged this month although there are small changes to the ranking. Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) remains the largest domestic Chinese route with 763,844 seats which is 4% more seats than in April 2023.
  • The second largest route continues to be Guangzhou (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) with 693,625 seats,  which is 4% fewer seats per day compared to last month.
  • Chengdu (CTU) to Beijing (PEK) has seen the biggest increase in seats this month compared to last month with 5% more seats per day.    

USA'S TOP 10 BUSIEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE ROUTES

KEY POINTS

  • The biggest domestic route in the US this month is Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG), moving up 1 place with 315,702 seats.
  • Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX) was the biggest domestic route in the US last month however it has moved down 2 places this month to 3rd with 299,636 seats, a 7% drop in seats per day.
  • Atlanta (ATL) to Orlando (MCO) has moved up 1 place to 2nd this month with 301,604 seats, a 4% increase in seats per day compared to last month.
  • Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) has had the biggest increase in seats this month adding 10% more seats per day and has moved from 7th place last month to 4th this month.
  • Atlanta (ATL) to New York La Guardia (LGA) has moved up into the top 10 busiest US domestic routes in 9th place and Newark (EWR) to Orlando (MCO) has dropped out. 

BUSIEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE ROUTES - MAY 2023


KEY POINTS

  • Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) is the busiest international route this month with 436,939 seats however seats per day have dropped by 5% compared to last month.
  • Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) continues in 2nd place with 427,124 seats, a 1% increase in seats per day compared to April 2023.
  • Incheon (ICN) to Osaka (KIX) has had the biggest increase in seats per day adding 9% more compared to April 2023 and has moved up 2 places to be the 3rd busiest international route.
  • Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) has also had a big increase in seats per day adding 8% compared to last month however has dropped one place to 4th. 
  • Two new routes make it into the Top 10 this month. These are Dubai (DXB) to Riyadh (RUH) and Bangkok (BKK) to Singapore Changi (SIN), replacing Dubai (DXB) to Jeddah (JED) and Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG).
  • With the exception of New York (JFK) to London Heathrow (LHR), which is ranked 7th, all the routes in the Top 10 are in Asia and the Middle East. 
BUSIEST FLIGHT ROUTES IN THE WORLD | DOWNLOAD DATA
WHAT WERE THE BUSIEST ROUTES IN 2022? | FIND OUT NOW

METHODOLOGY


The busiest flight routes in the world are defined as those with the largest volume of scheduled airline seats in the current calendar month. Data is for flights in both directions on each route and is sourced from OAG Schedules Analyzer in the first week of each month. The flight data reflects the most recent full calendar month for the busiest scheduled domestic and international flight routes in each category.

Subscribe to monthly updates on the world's busiest airline routes


You can unsubscribe at any time. For details, review our Privacy Notice.

UNLOCK MORE DATA INSIGHTS