MEGAHUBS 2023

KEY GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS

• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is the most connected airport in the world this year in first place. LHR is the 4th biggest airport in the world in terms of total scheduled capacity in the year to August 2023. British Airways remains the dominant airline at London Heathrow, operating 50% of all flights. London Heathrow Airport also ranked first in 2019, and while the number of potential connections in the period selected still remains slightly below 2019 levels, London Heathrow ranks highest this year in terms of the ratio of those connections to destinations served. 
• New York’s JFK Airport (JFK) is 2nd in this year’s Megahubs Index. New York (JFK) punches above its weight with high volumes of potential connecting options across its extensive network, and sits just outside the Top 10 largest global airports by scheduled seat capacity. JFK has moved up the rankings considerably from 18th position in 2019, in part driven by American Airlines operating seven more international destinations in 2023, and new services from several carriers including Qantas, Air New Zealand and Air Senegal. 
• The Global Top 20 Megahubs are evenly distributed across the regions with:
  • 6 in EMEA
  • 6 in North America
  • 7 in Asia Pacific
    
• The presence of seven Asian airport hubs in the Global Top 20 is significant considering the region is still on the path towards a full recovery. Most connected of these hubs is Kuala Lumpur (KUL) ranking 4th, closely followed by Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) which ranks 5th.
• The major European airport hubs - Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA) and Paris (CDG) - join London Heathrow (LHR) in the Top 10 Global Megahubs.  Istanbul (IST) also makes it into the Top 10 in 7th place, which is considerably higher than its ranking at 17 in 2019.  This does follow a period of fleet expansion from Istanbul’s dominant carrier - Turkish Airlines - who have been adding both destinations in Central Asia and the US, and increasing frequency to some points.

• Other Megahubs of significance in the Top 20 include Atlanta (ATL), the World’s Busiest Airport, which ranks 14th and Chicago O’Hare (ORD) which sits in position 10, down from 3rd place in 2019. 

With airports and airlines themselves facilitating international connections between low-cost flights more and more, we have compiled the top 25 Megahubs for low-cost connections which include the same or different low-cost carriers.

KEY LCC HIGHLIGHTS

• In the Top 25 Low-Cost Megahubs:
  • Asia Pacific airports dominate the rankings with 13 airports (52%).
  • EMEA has eight airports (32%).
  • North America and Latin America have just two airports each in this league. 
• This regional dominance reflects the high level of LCC penetration in parts of Asia; South Asia has the highest share of capacity operated by LCCs of any region in the world at 63%. South East Asia has the second highest LCC share, with 53% of all capacity in the region operated by LCCs.   
• Kuala Lumpur Airport (KUL) is ranked 1st in the Low-Cost Megahubs index with 11,188 possible low-cost connections across over 100 destinations. AirAsia is the dominant carrier with a 34% share of flights.
• Incheon (ICN) is 2nd with Korean Air the dominant carrier with 22% of flights and Manila (MNL) is ranked 3rd, with Philippine Airlines the dominant carrier operating 32% of flights. 
• Dubai (DXB) is the highest-ranked non-Asian airport in 7th position, having climbed up from 19th place in 2019. 
• New York's JFK Airport (JFK) is the highest-ranked North American airport in the Top 25 Low-Cost Megahubs in 8th position. 
• Barcelona Airport (BCN) and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW) are the highest-ranked airports in Europe to be in the Top 25 in 9th and 10th position.

As the United States is currently the largest domestic aviation market in the world, we have included the Top 25 US Domestic Airport Megahubs. These airports are those with the highest ratio of possible scheduled connections to the number of destinations served by that airport.

KEY US HIGHLIGHTS

• Chicago O’Hare (ORD) is 1st in the US Domestic Megahubs (the same position it held in 2019) with United Airlines, their dominant carrier, operating almost half (48%) of all of flights at ORD. 
• Atlanta (ATL) is in 2nd position (the same position as 2019) with Delta Air Lines dominating at ATL where they operate three quarters of all flights.
• Denver (DEN) is 3rd and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) is 4th - both airports have a similar level of potential connections, however this is considerably lower than ORD which offers 30% more potential connections over the same time period. 
• At 20 of the Top 25 airports, one of five US legacy carriers is the dominant airline, but four of the airports have low-cost Southwest Airlines as the carrier with the largest market share, showing just how much potential there is for low-cost connectivity. 

KEY REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Europe, Middle East and Africa Top 10 Megahubs achieve the highest average international Connectivity Index of any region, with an average score of 179. 
• Asia Pacific, while having the second highest average Connectivity Index for the Top 10 Megahubs, has seen significant change. Five of the region’s Top 10 most connected Megahubs are in South East Asia with, as yet, no Chinese airports returning to the Megahubs regional ranking. There are two Japanese airports in the Top 10; Tokyo Haneda (HND) and Fukuoka (FUK).
• In Europe, London Heathrow Airport (LHR) remains in the #1 position. Amsterdam (AMS) is in 2nd place and has moved up from 4th place in 2019.
• In the Middle East and Africa, Dubai (DXB) retains 1st position, Doha (DOH) is in 2nd place and South Africa’s Johannesburg (JNB) is in 3rd place.   
• Mexico City (MEX) remains the top-ranked Megahub in Latin America, with Bogota (BOG) in 2nd place.

ABOUT OAG MEGAHUBS 2023

Using a connectivity index, Megahubs 2023 measures the effectiveness of the world’s leading international airport hubs as connecting points – globally and regionally – as well as gateways into domestic markets and provides a platform for comparison.

The rankings are generated by comparing the number of scheduled connections to and from international flights with the number of destinations served from the airport.

Megahubs is created using OAG’s flight data platform, which contains the most comprehensive airline schedules and global flight connections database in the world, to dynamically build connections and create unique rankings. Megahubs 2023 provides essential insights into how flight connectivity has returned across the world’s largest airports.

This year, we return to the full methodology last published in 2019. Each table includes the airport’s previous rank in 2019, dominant carrier* at each hub and the share of flights operated by that carrier.

*Dominant carrier analysis includes flights by the operating carrier only, not codeshare or affiliate flights.

METHODOLOGY

OAG analyzed flight data for the 100 largest airports in the world (based on total scheduled seats in August 2023) and at the largest 100 international airports on the busiest day - Friday 11 August 2023 - for global aviation in the last year (September 2022 - August 2023) and calculated the total number of all possible connections between inbound and outbound flights within a six-hour window (where either the inbound, outbound, or both flights are international).

The connectivity index has used the in-built business rules within OAG Connections Analyser, plus the following customizable criteria were chosen for all operating flights:

• Single international* connections only to/from the chosen airports
• Maximum circuity of 150
• Minimum Connection Time (MCT) varies by individual airport. OAG holds the MCT information for every commercial airport in operation
• Maximum connection window of six hours

The Top 25 Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) International Megahubs Index uses the same methodology but the restriction rule is limited to low-cost flights only.

The Top 25 US Domestic Megahubs index uses the same methodology but has different criteria as follows:

• Single domestic connections only to/from the chosen airports
• Maximum circuity of 120
• Maximum Connection Window of three hours

*International connections include domestic to international, international to domestic and international to international connection.