Busiest flight routes in the world

The World’s Busiest Domestic route in July 2026 remains Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND), offering 1.10 million seats and recording 8% growth compared with July 2025. South Korea’s Jeju International (CJU) to Seoul Gimpo (GMP) retains second place with 1.07 million seats, although capacity declines by 9%, the largest decrease among the top ten routes. Vietnam’s Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) ranks third with 1.01 million seats, increasing capacity by 4% year-on-year, while Japan’s Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) remains fourth with 983k seats, posting 3% growth. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah (JED) to Riyadh (RUH) completes the top five with 902k seats, recording the strongest growth among the leading five routes at 10%. Further down the rankings, Australia’s Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD) falls by 3% to 761k seats in sixth place. Vietnam’s Da Nang (DAD) to Hanoi (HAN) climbs into seventh with 687k seats, matching the growth of the leading Japanese route at 8%. Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Okinawa Naha (OKA) ranks eighth with 679k seats, down 4%, while India’s Mumbai (BOM) to Delhi (DEL) drops to ninth place with 663k seats, growing by 7%. Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) rounds out the top ten with 638k seats, also increasing capacity by 7% compared with July 2025.

Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) remains the World’s Busiest International route in July 2026, offering 593k seats and recording 2% growth compared with July 2025. Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) retains second place with 481k seats, posting strong 13% year-on-year growth. Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Osaka Kansai (KIX) climbs into third place with 456k seats, increasing capacity by 9%, while Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) ranks fourth with 441k seats, recording a 9% decline compared with last year. Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) completes the top five with 411k seats, experiencing the largest decline among the top ten routes at 16%.

Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) remains China’s Busiest Domestic route in July 2026, offering 638k seats and recording 7% growth compared with July 2025. Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) retains second place with 600k seats, although capacity declines slightly by 2% year-on-year. Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) ranks third with 581k seats, also growing by 7%. Beijing (PEK) to Shenzhen (SZX) follows in fourth place with 480k seats, with capacity remaining broadly unchanged compared with last year. Chengdu (CTU) to Beijing (PEK) moves into the top five with 434k seats, recording a strong 9% increase. Further down the rankings, Hangzhou (HGH) to Shenzhen (SZX) posts the strongest growth among China’s top ten domestic routes, surging 22% to 399k seats in sixth place. Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Hangzhou (HGH) also performs strongly, increasing 10% to 387k seats in seventh, while Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Beijing Daxing (PKX) grows by 13% to 359k seats, ranking eighth. In contrast, Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Beijing (PEK) records the largest decline among the top ten, falling 5% to 327k seats in ninth place. Chengdu (CTU) to Shenzhen (SZX) completes the rankings with 308k seats, posting 3% growth year-on-year.

Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) remains the USA’s Busiest Domestic route in July 2026, offering 340k seats and recording a 27% increase compared with July 2025, the strongest growth among the country’s leading domestic routes. New York La Guardia (LGA) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) ranks second with 321k seats, increasing by 5%, while New York JFK (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) remains third with 310k seats, posting modest 1% growth. Los Angeles (LAX) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) climbs to fourth with 287k seats, increasing capacity by 5%, while Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX) completes the top five with 271k seats, up 4% year-on-year. Further down the rankings, Atlanta (ATL) to Orlando (MCO) is the only route in the top ten to record a decline, falling 6% to 265k seats in sixth place. Boston (BOS) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) records the second-fastest growth among the top ten, rising 25% to 254k seats and ranking seventh. Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) follows in eighth with 236k seats, growing 11%, while Denver (DEN) to Seattle (SEA) and Anchorage (ANC) to Seattle (SEA) round out the top ten with 234k seats each, increasing by 7% and 10% respectively.

The top international routes in each region — click a region to expand.

Static reference tables for the top busiest air routes in July 2026. Data sourced from OAG Schedules Analyser.