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.

• The busiest domestic airline route:  Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) 
• The busiest international route:  Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) 
• China's busiest domestic route:  Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) 
• USA's busiest domestic route:  Atlanta (ATL) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) 

KEY POINTS

• The Busiest Domestic route in February 2026 shifts to Vietnam, with Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) taking the top spot, offering 1.15 million seats. This represents a strong 24% increase in capacity compared to February 2025 and reflects the additional capacity brought by Sun Phu Quoc Airways, Vietnam’s newest airline. There is also strong growth on the route from Vietravel Airlines.
•  South Korea’s Jeju International (CJU) to Seoul Gimpo (GMP) follows closely in second place with 1.13 million seats, up 14% year-on-year.
• Japan’s Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) ranks third with 966k seats, recording modest growth of 4% compared to last year.
• Also in Japan, Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) takes fourth place with 911k seats, showing steady year-on-year growth of 3%.
• Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah (JED) to Riyadh (RUH) route moves into fifth place with 882k seats and stands out as the fastest-growing route with a 33% increase in capacity year-on-year.
• Australia’s Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD) ranks sixth with 693k seats, growing by 3%, while India features prominently with Mumbai (BOM) to Delhi (DEL) in seventh place at 628k seats, up 5%.
• Further down the top 10, Bengaluru (BLR) to Delhi (DEL) records one of the strongest growth rates, increasing capacity by 25% year-on-year to 489k seats, highlighting sustained strength in India’s domestic demand.

KEY POINTS

• Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) becomes China’s Busiest Domestic route in February 2026, offering 488k seats, although capacity declines by 10% compared with February 2025.
• Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) ranks second with 472k seats, growing by 6% year-on-year, while Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) moves into third place with 467k seats, down slightly by 3% versus last year.
• As in previous months, Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (SHA) remains a central feature of China’s domestic network, featuring in three of the top four routes.
• Further down the rankings, Beijing (PEK) to Shenzhen (SZX) places fourth on China's Busiest Routes with 415k seats, showing marginal growth of 1%, while Chengdu (CTU) to Beijing (PEK) ranks fifth with 326k seats and capacity broadly flat year-on-year.
• Harbin (HRB) to Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Beijing Daxing (PKX) have both seen capacity growth with seats increasing by 6% and 7% respectively compared to last year and are in eighth and ninth place.

KEY POINTS

• Atlanta (ATL) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) becomes the USA’s Busiest Domestic route in February 2026, offering 260k seats and recording a strong 24% increase compared with February 2025.
• Atlanta (ATL) to Orlando (MCO) follows closely in second place with 260k seats, with capacity broadly flat year-on-year.
• Denver (DEN) to Phoenix (PHX) ranks third with 248k seats but sees capacity decline by 6% compared to last year.
• The transcontinental New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) route falls to fourth place with 243k seats, although capacity still grows by a solid 6% year-on-year.
• Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO) ranks fifth with 229k seats, down 11% year-on-year, while Hawaiian inter-island travel remains under pressure, with Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG) declining 12% to 228k seats in sixth place.
• Western leisure routes also continue to soften, with Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX) down 16%. In contrast, growth is evident on several eastern routes.
• Atlanta (ATL) to New York La Guardia (LGA) grows by 10%, and Orlando (MCO) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) stands out as the fastest-growing route in the top 10, surging 32% year-on-year.

KEY POINTS

• In February 2026, Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) rises to become the Busiest International route globally, offering 547k seats and recording strong growth of 25% compared with February 2025.
• Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) follows in second place with 533k seats, although capacity declines by 5% year-on-year. 
• Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) is in third place with 475k seats, up 15%, while Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Osaka Kansai (KIX) ranks fourth with 445k seats and a robust 18% increase.
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) sits in fifth place with 419k seats, down slightly by 3% compared to last year.
• The remaining top 10 busiest routes show a mixed picture. Sixth place Jakarta (CGK) to Singapore Changi (SIN) sees a slight decline in capacity of 2% to 346k seats, while seventh place Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG) grows modestly by 3% to 341k seats.
• Eighth place Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Taipei (TPE) rises 7% to 332k seats, and ninth place Hong Kong (HKG) to Manila (MNL) continues its strong recovery, up 28% to 313k seats, making it the fastest-growing route in the top 10.
• Asia Pacific remains dominant in the international rankings, accounting for seven of the top 10 routes, with Hong Kong (HKG) appearing three times.

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.