Hong Kong-Taipei Reclaims Top Spot As World’s Busiest International Route

Seven of the top 10 busiest international airline routes in 2024 are in the Asia-Pacific region, with Hong Kong-Taipei, Taiwan, reclaiming the top spot.

Airlines have offered almost 6.8 million seats between Hong Kong International Airport and Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport this year, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows. This represents a 48% increase in capacity compared to 2023, when the route ranked as the third busiest globally. Despite the growth, capacity remains 15% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, when it was the busiest international route.

The short 500-mi. (434-nm) sector is currently served by seven carriers, led by Cathay Pacific with a 42% share of the capacity. EVA Airways has 21% of the market, followed by China Airlines on 12.6%.

OAG data reveals that the Cairo, Egypt-Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, route maintained its position as the world’s second-busiest international route in 2024, with nearly 5.5 million available seats. Seoul Incheon-Tokyo Narita climbed from fifth to third place, while last year’s busiest route, Kuala Lumpur-Singapore Changi, dropped to fourth despite a 10% year-on-year capacity increase. Seoul Incheon-Osaka Kansai completed the top five.

The only route in the top 10 not to involve an origin or destination in the Asia-Pacific or Middle East regions was between New York John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, which fell two places to 10^th. There were 4 million available seats between the destinations this year, equating to a year-on-year rise of 3% and growth of 5% on 2019.

Looking at the overall busiest routes during 2024, each of the top 10 are in domestic markets. The busiest globally is once again between Seoul’s Gimpo Airport and Jeju, off the coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Carriers have offered almost 14.2 million seats on the 280-mi. (243-nm) sector in 2023, which marks a 3% rise on last year, but down by 19% on 2019. Seven carriers currently operate flights between the destinations, collectively providing about 92 return services per day.

The second- and third-busiest routes are both Japanese domestic flights, with Hokkaido’s Chitose Airport-Tokyo Haneda International Airport taking second on 11.9 million seats, followed by Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda with 11.3 million seats. Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is the fourth-busiest route globally with 10.6 million seats, and Melbourne to Sydney is the fifth, with 9.2 million seats.

In the U.S., the world’s largest aviation market, Atlanta-Orlando, Florida, was the busiest domestic service with 3.5 million seats, ahead of last year’s busiest between Honolulu (HNL) to Kahului (OGG), Hawaii. Capacity on HNL-OGG fell 7% year-on-year but remains 17% higher than in 2019.

In third place, with just 14,941 (0.4%) fewer seats than the HNL-OGG route, is Las Vegas-Los Angeles. Meanwhile, New York La Guardia-Chicago O’Hare had the biggest increase in capacity year on year, growing by 17% in 2024 compared to 2023, and has moved up into the top 10 in seventh place.