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) route retains its position as the Busiest Domestic Route in the World in August 2025, with 1.23 million seats, a 2% increase in capacity compared to last year.
• Japan’s Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) is the second busiest route with 1.05 million seats and Fukuoka (FUK) to Tokyo Haneda (HND) is in third place with 969k seats, both routes have similar year on year capacity.
• The route from Jeddah (JED) to Riyadh (RUH) in Saudi Arabia stands out as the fastest-growing domestic route in the top 10, with a 21% increase in capacity compared to August 2024 adding 154,473 seats and is in fifth place.
• Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) route also demonstrates strong growth, with an 8% increase, securing eighth place. Conversely, Vietnam’s Hanoi (HAN) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) route sees a decrease in capacity compared to last year and is in fourth place. 
• Similarly, Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) experienced an 8% decline, placing it in ninth.
• Other key routes such as Melbourne (MEL) to Sydney (SYD) and Jakarta (CGK) to Makassar (UPG) also saw year on year decreases, at 5% and 2% respectively.
  

KEY POINTS

• Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) to Shenzhen (SZX) remains the Busiest Domestic Route in China in August 2025 with 627,371 seats, an 8% increase in capacity compared to August 2024.
• Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) continues in second place with 595,619 seats, down 8% year on year.
• Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) is in third place with 537,668 seats, showing a 11% 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.
• Guangzhou (CAN) features prominently in the top 10, appearing on four routes, including the sixth-ranked Guangzhou to Beijing (PEK), which grew by 4%, and three routes that saw capacity decreases: Guangzhou to Hangzhou (HGH) down 5%, and Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN) to Beijing Daxing (PKX) and Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) which both fell by 11%.
• Hangzhou (HGH) to Shenzhen (SZX) has seen the biggest decrease in capacity down 12% and is in eighth place.
• The fastest growing route is Chengdu (CTU) to Shenzhen (SZX), which climbed 16% compared to August 2024 and enters the top 10 in tenth position.

KEY POINTS

• In August 2025, the route between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) has moved up to be the Busiest Domestic Route in the USA with 301,870 seats, a 9% increase in capacity compared to last year where it was in seventh place.
• New York La Guardia (LGA) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) is the second busiest route with 293,650 seats, just 8,220 (3%) behind first place.
• Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX) ranks third with 289,874 seats however capacity has decreased by 4% year on year.
• Four routes have seen a significant drop in capacity in August 2025 compared to last year with Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG), Anchorage (ANC) to Seattle (SEA), Atlanta (ATL) to New York La Guardia (LGA) all decreasing by 12% and Atlanta (ATL) to Orlando (MCO) dropping by 11%. 
  

KEY POINTS

• In August 2025, Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) remains the Busiest International Route Globally with 581,751 seats, maintaining the same capacity as last year.
• Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Singapore Changi (SIN) is in second place with 462,125 seats, a 3% drop in capacity compared to August 2024.
• Cairo (CAI) to Jeddah (JED) is the third busiest route with 461,210 seats.
• Osaka Kansai (KIX) to Shanghai Pudong (PVG), now the sixth busiest route, continues to see a huge increase in capacity adding 57% more seats in August 2025 compared to last year, adding an extra 140,008 seats.
• Jakarta (CGK) to Singapore Changi (SIN) has also increased in capacity, growing 12% year on year and is in seventh place.
• Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Tokyo Narita (NRT) has had the biggest capacity decrease in the international top 10 with seats dropping by 8% and is in fourth place.
• In total, the Asia Pacific region continues to dominate the Top 10 international busiest routes, with seven routes. There is also one route within Middle East, one linking North America to Europe and one linking Africa to the Middle East. Seoul Incheon (ICN), Hong Kong (HKG), Singapore Changi (SIN) and Osaka Kansai (KIX) 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.