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 in September 2025, with 1.29 million seats - up 14% from September 2024. 
• Japan’s Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) is the second busiest route with 1.01 million seats, and Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) is the third busiest route with 929k seats. Both routes have similar year-on-year capacity growth.
• Saudi Arabia’s busiest domestic route, Jeddah (JED) to Riyadh (RUH), remains the fastest-growing domestic route globally, with an 18% increase in capacity compared to last year.
• Australia’s busiest route, Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD), grew 6% compared to September 2024 to 782k seats.
• Two major domestic routes in China and India have seen a drop in capacity this month compared to last year; Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) has seen a 10% decline to 609k seats, and Mumbai (BOM) to Delhi (DEL) has dropped by 9% to 602k.   
  

KEY POINTS

• Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) is China's busiest domestic route in September 2025 with 608,777 seats, but capacity has decreased by 10% compared to September 2024.
• Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) is in second place with 581,831 seats, a 3% increase on last year.
• Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) is in third place with 475,345 seats, showing an 8% decline in capacity.
• All the top three routes continue to involve Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (SHA), underlining its central role in China’s domestic air network.
  
  
• Two routes from Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) have recorded strong growth this month compared to last year; Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Hangzhou (HGH) has increased by 8% and is in sixth place, and Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Beijing (PEK) has grown by 6% and is in eighth place.
• Chengdu (CTU) to Shenzhen (SZX) has had the biggest increase in capacity in the Top 10, adding 10% more seats. 

KEY POINTS

• In September 2025, the route between New York La Guardia (LGA) and Chicago O’Hare (ORD) has moved up to be the USA's busiest domestic route with 298,482 seats, a 7% increase in capacity compared to last year when it was in third place.
• The transcontinental route between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) is in second place with 285,208 seats, a 5% increase in capacity compared to September 2024.
• Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX) ranks third with 276,111 seats, but capacity has decreased by 3% year on year.
• Atlanta (ATL) to Orlando (MCO) has seen the biggest drop in capacity compared to September 2024, reducing seats by 20%, and has moved down six positions to tenth place.
• Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG) has also seen a sharp decline in capacity, dropping 12% year on year, and is in seventh place. 
  

KEY POINTS

• In September 2025, Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) remains the busiest international route in the world with 548,968 seats. However, the route has seen a 3% decline in capacity compared to last year. Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) has seen the largest increase in capacity amongst the Top 10, adding 22% more seats this month compared to September 2024, and is in second place with 459,865 seats. Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) is in third place with 453,246 seats, a 4% drop in capacity compared to last year.
  
  
• Jakarta (CGK) to Singapore Changi (SIN) has seen strong capacity growth, growing 19% year on year, and is in sixth place with 381,656 seats. Dubai (DXB) to Riyadh (RUH) has also grown by 7%, reaching 394,980 seats in September 2025, and is now in sixth place. Two routes from Seoul Incheon (ICN) have seen significant decreases in capacity in September 2025 compared to last year; Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) has seen a 11% decrease in capacity and is in fourth place, and Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Osaka Kansai (KIX) has dropped by 8% and is in seventh place.
  
  
• The Asia Pacific region continues to dominate the rankings, appearing in seven of the Top 10 routes.
• Seoul Incheon (ICN), Hong Kong (HKG), Tokyo Narita (NRT) and Taipei (TPE) each appear twice in the Top 10, more than any other airports. 

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.