MEGAHUBS 2024

KEY GLOBAL HIGHLIGHTS

• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) remains the most internationally connected airport in the world this year and retains first place. LHR is the 4th biggest airport in the world in terms of scheduled one way capacity in the year to August 2024. British Airways remains the dominant airline at London Heathrow operating 50% of all flights.
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL) moves up to 2nd this year and is the most connected airport in Asia Pacific. KUL does not have the highest volume of connections by comparison to some of the biggest hubs in the index, but it does have a high ratio of connections to destinations served, which is what pushes it up the rankings, from 12th place in 2019 and 4th place in 2023. Asia’s largest low-cost carrier (LCC), Air Asia, is the dominant carrier at the airport, operating 35% of KUL’s flights in the twelve months to August 2024.
• Istanbul (IST) proudly offers more destinations than any other Megahub, however - based on the OAG connectivity methodology - it doesn’t offer as many potential connections as those Megahubs ahead of it hence its place at No 8. Only FRA joins IST in offering over 300 destinations in their network.
• The Top 20 Global Megahubs continues to see a slight shift towards Asia  - highlighting the growing connectivity of Asian cities in the global network - with the following distribution:
  • 8 in Asia Pacific: KUL, HND, ICN, BKK, SIN, MNL, NRT and PVG.
  • 6 in EMEA: LHR, AMS, CDG, IST, FRA and DXB.
  • 5 in North America: JFK, ORD, ARL, DFW and YYZ. 
• Asia Pacific is home to three of the Top 5 Megahubs - KUL, HND, and ICN - providing reassurance that these markets are back in business and pursuing growth.
• Within the Top 50 Global Megahubs, connectivity growth in Asia is not isolated but spread widely with:
  • 5 in South East Asia: KUL, BKK, SIN, MNL and CGK.
  • 9 in North East Asia: HND, ICN, NRT, PVG, HKG, FUK, CAN, TPE and PEK.
• Tokyo Narita (NRT) in Japan has seen significant improvement, entering the Top 50 this year as the Japan inbound market has made a strong comeback. NRT packs a punch in connecting terms – with a relatively small number of potential connections across just 117 destinations pushing it into 15th place. 
• The major European airport hubs - Amsterdam (AMS), Frankfurt (FRA) and Paris (CDG) remain in the Top 10. Other major European airports have experienced some reductions in services to Asia due to the continued impact of restrictions on flying over Russia and Ukraine.  
• In North America New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) leads U.S. airports ranking 6th in the Global Top 50 list.
• Both Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Atlanta (ATL), the world’s busiest airport, move up the rankings this year, Chicago taking 9th position against Atlanta’s 11th spot.

KEY LCC HIGHLIGHTS

• Asia Pacific airports’ dominance continues to grow this year with 16 airports (64%).
• There are a total of eight airports in South East Asia in the Top 25 LCC Megahubs, and:
  • 5 in North East Asia: ICN, FUK, NRT, HKG and KIX.
  • 2 in South Asia: DEL and BOM.
  • 1 in the Southwest Pacific: SYD.
• LCCs dominate capacity across South East Asia, accounting for 61% of all seats. In North East Asia the LCC share is lower, at 36%, although this is still higher than the global average of 34%.  
• Kuala Lumpur Airport (KUL), ranking 1st in the Top 25 Low-Cost Megahubs, offers 14,583 possible low-cost connections across 137 destinations. AirAsia is the dominant carrier with 35% share of total flights and operates 48% of all LCC capacity.
• Manila (MNL) moves up into 2nd place this year overtaking Incheon (ICN), with a high ratio of connectivity to 97 destinations. 
• Middle East airports DXB and RUH both feature in the rankings. Dubai (DXB) retains its 7th place position again this year and is the highest-ranked airport outside of Asia in the Top 25 Low-Cost Megahubs. DXB offers the highest number of destinations in the table; 279 in the last year (Sep 2023 to Aug 2024), although not all of these are operated by LCCs.
• Europe is home to six airports in the Top 25 LCC Megahubs: BCN, SAW, AMS, FCO, PMI and LGW.  Barcelona (BCN) is the highest-ranked European Airport in 8th place with Vueling dominating the LCC capacity with a 73% share; the airline is also the dominant carrier overall at BCN operating 41% of total capacity at the airport.
• New York (JFK) is in position nine, making it the highest-ranked (and only) North American airport in the Top 25 Low-Cost Megahubs. JetBlue is the dominant LCC carrier at JFK, operating 27% of the airport’s flights. 

As the largest domestic aviation market in the world, we include a US domestic Top 25 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

• This year, Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and Atlanta (ATL) share the top spot in the US Domestic Megahubs with an equal ratio of connectivity offered at both airports. While ATL has the largest domestic capacity in the past year (Sep 2023 - Aug 2024), ORD offers more domestic connecting options. However, these connections are distributed over more destinations, resulting in both airports sharing the top position and balancing out their differences.  The airports are dominated by two of the US majors; 49% of flights at ORD are operated by United Airlines and 75% of flights at ATL are operated by Delta. 
• It is not a surprise then that American’s main hub, Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), is the third most connected US Domestic Megahub, offering a potential 48,292 connections to the 196 destinations served from DFW.  Dallas Fort Worth has one of the highest rates of market share accounted by one carrier – American Airlines - who operate 85% of all flights. American Airlines also have a very strong position at Charlotte (CLT), the 4th largest US Domestic Megahub, with 87% of all flights there.
• While the composition of the Top 25 remains largely unchanged from Megahubs 2023, the rankings have changed for some US Domestic Megahubs. Las Vegas (LAS) falls from 8th place last year to 16th and Boston (BOS) moves up from 16th to 10th place.  BOS is one of the Megahubs with the most diverse mix of carriers, with the dominant carrier, Delta, having just 29% of flights.  

KEY REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• Dubai (DXB) tops the Middle East and Africa Airports followed by DOH in 2nd place. With JNB, RUH and ADD making it into the top five. Overall, dominant carriers account for more than half of flights at these airports, averaging 52% across the Top 10. 
• In the Top 10 Asia Pacific Megahubs are two Japanese airports, both in Tokyo – HND and NRT.  The average share of the dominant carrier at the Top 10 Asian airports is relatively low at 28%.
• In North America, nine of the Top 10 Megahubs are in the USA and one is in Canada; Toronto (YYZ) is the 5th most connected North American airport.  The most connected North American airport is New York (JFK).  The dominant carrier at JFK is Delta Air Lines with a 35% share, one of the lower shares compared to the average for this group which is 58%. 
• Bogota (BOG) is the most connected airport in Latin America this year and is in 20th place globally.  Mexico City (MEX) drops to second place but remains in the global top 50 in 32nd place.

Based on OAG flight data from the 100 largest airports and the 100 largest international airports in the world, based on total scheduled seats for an entire year (September 2023 to August 2024). 

Data is extracted from the busiest day for global aviation in the past year (Sep 2023 to Aug 2024), Friday 2 August 2024.

The total number of all possible connections is calculated between inbound and outbound flights within a six-hour window, considering those where either the inbound, outbound, or both flights are international. 

Plus, the following 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. 

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

Top 25 Most Connected Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) Airports (International)
Uses the same methodology but the restriction rule is limited to low-cost flights only. 

Top 25 Most Connected US Airports (Domestic)
Uses the same methodology but is based on the busiest day for domestic capacity and flights in the US, which is 18 July 2024, with the following criteria:

• Single domestic connections only to/from the chosen airports.
• Maximum circuity of 120. 
• Maximum connection window of three hours.