BUSIEST FLIGHT ROUTES IN THE WORLD

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 flight routes data is powered by Schedules Analyser.

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.

KEY POINTS

• South Korea’s Jeju International (CJU) to Seoul Gimpo (GMP) remains the world’s busiest domestic route, with 1.17 million seats, despite a 4% drop from last year. Japan’s Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) and Vietnam’s Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) follow in second and third place respectively, each with a slight 1% decline.
• Jeddah (JED) to Riyadh (RUH) in Saudi Arabia is the fastest-growing domestic route in the Top 10, up 16% from July 2024 and now ranked in fifth place. Vietnam’s Da Nang (DAD) to Hanoi (HAN) route also shows significant growth, rising 10% year-on-year and entering the Top 10 busiest domestic routes at eighth place.
• By contrast, the domestic route from Mumbai (BOM) to Delhi (DEL) saw the largest decline in capacity, dropping by 9% and falling to ninth position.

KEY POINTS

• Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) is China's busiest domestic route in July 2025 with 612,934 seats, reflecting a 6% increase in capacity compared to July 2024. Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA), which has held the top spot in previous months, moves to second place with 593,768 seats, down 5% year on year. Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) remains in third place with 540,603 seats, showing a 6% decline in capacity.
• A notable point to mention is that Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (SHA) continues to hold a place in the top three routes, underlining its central role in China’s domestic air network.
  
  
• Among the Top 10, the Beijing (PEK) to Shenzhen (SZX) route stands out with a 13% increase in capacity compared to July 2024, making it the fastest-growing route. Chengdu (CTU) to Shenzhen (SZX) also shows positive growth, rising 4% year on year.
• Meanwhile, Hangzhou (HGH) to Shenzhen (SZX) and Guangzhou (CAN) to Beijing Daxing (PKX) each dropped by 12%.

KEY POINTS

• In July 2025, New York La Guardia (LGA) - Chicago O’Hare (ORD) became the busiest US domestic route with 306,970 seats, up 6% from last year. 
• The transcontinental route from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) has moved down to second place with 306,621 seats, but still shows strong year-on-year growth of 9%. There are only 349 seats between first and second place.
• Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX) follows in third place with 285,056 seats and a modest 2% increase in capacity compared to last year.
• Four out of five routes from Los Angeles (LAX) in the Top 10 have positive year-on-year growth, with Los Angeles (LAX) to New York (JFK) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD) having the biggest growth at 10% and 9% respectively.
• Anchorage (ANC) to Seattle (SEA) and Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG) have both dropped in capacity in July 2025 compared to last year by 12% and 11% respectively.

KEY POINTS

• In July 2025, Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) remains the busiest international route with 581,965 seats, maintaining the same capacity as July 2024. Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) is the second busiest route with 491,047 seats, a 5% capacity increase compared to last year. In third place is Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) with 484,750 seats and a year-on-year growth of 4%.
  
  
• Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Shanghai Pudong (PVG), now the seventh busiest route, continues to see a huge increase in capacity, adding 69% more seats in July 2025 compared to last year, from 230,904 to 398,728 seats. Jakarta (CGK) to Singapore Changi (SIN) has also surged in capacity, growing 18% year on year and moving up to sixth place. Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) has dropped to fourth place following a 9% decrease in seats, and Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG) has slipped to tenth, down 4% from last year.
  
  
• Seven of the world’s Top 10 busiest international routes in July 2025 are in the Asia Pacific region.
• Seoul Incheon (ICN), Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore Changi (SIN) and Osaka Kansai (KIX) each appear twice in the Top 10, more than any other airport. 

The busiest air routes 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 Analyser in the first week of each month. The data reflects the most recent full calendar month for the busiest scheduled domestic and international aviation routes in each category.