The Routes Asia 2026 Awards will recognize outstanding achievements in airport and destination marketing, with 15 airports, five destinations and four airlines reaching the finals this year.
Six awards will be presented, including three dedicated to airport excellence in route development marketing. These airport awards are categorized by passenger volume—Under 5 Million, 5–20 Million and Over 20 Million—and recognize airports that have demonstrated exceptional marketing support for their airline partners.
The Destination Award recognizes destinations for their vital support of airline partners, while the Airline Award highlights the importance of collaboration in developing successful and profitable routes. An Overall Winner will be selected from among the category winners.
The Airport and Destination categories were reviewed and scored by a panel of airline judges, while the Airline category was evaluated by a panel of editorial judges.
Today, we profile the finalists from the three airport categories, with the Destination and Airline finalists to be featured next week. The winners will be announced during the Routes Asia 2026 Networking Evening on April 15 in Xi’an, China.
Under 5 Million Passengers
Clark International Airport, Philippines
Clark International Airport (CRK) handled 2.75 million passengers and 22,745 flight movements in 2025, representing 14% passenger growth and 18% flight growth year on year. CRK works with 15 airline partners and offers service to 24 destinations, including 13 domestic and 11 international routes. Network expansion included new international services to Seoul Incheon with Aero K and Koror, Palau, with Nauru Airlines, as well as increased capacity to Hong Kong and Taipei. Cebu Pacific also launched new domestic routes to Naga, Masbate and San Jose. The airport also expanded its catchment area through new point-to-point bus routes, enhancing connectivity to surrounding provinces.
Koh Samui Airport, Thailand
Koh Samui Airport (USM) recorded a landmark year in 2025, handling 2.99 million passengers, the highest annual traffic in its history. To accommodate growth, the airport increased operations from 50 flights per day to a peak of 73 daily flights. USM also strengthened airline partnerships, including supporting Scoot in securing additional daily slots from the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, enabling the airline to expand operations in the market. Additionally, it partnered with Berjaya Air to support its service linking Koh Samui and Kuala Lumpur Subang, as well as investing in self-service and automated bag-drop technology to improve passenger processing.
Langkawi International Airport, Malaysia
Langkawi International Airport (LGK) recorded strong growth in 2025, handling about 2.92 million passengers, representing approximately 11.7% passenger growth supported by a 17.1% increase in seat capacity. The airport expanded its airline network to seven operating airlines and boosted connectivity through scheduled and charter services, including charter flights from Warsaw, Tashkent and Chengdu, as well as the launch of the Tashkent-Langkawi route. Malaysia Airports supported airline growth through its Network Development Programme and joint marketing initiatives with Tourism Malaysia and the Langkawi Development Authority.
Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, Cambodia
Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) continued expanding its airline network and international connectivity in 2025 following its opening in late 2023. The airport secured new services from Emirates, launching a Dubai-Bangkok-Siem Reap route, providing one-stop connectivity from Europe and the Americas, and IndiGo, which launched Kolkata-Siem Reap service, marking the first scheduled flights by an Indian airline to Cambodia. The airport also expanded regional connectivity with Firefly from Kuala Lumpur and AirAsia Cambodia to Phu Quoc. Passenger traffic grew from 1.4 million in 2024 to 1.47 million in 2025, while the number of active airlines increased from 13 to 16.
Yogyakarta International Airport, Indonesia
Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) secured several new domestic routes and airlines in 2025, including services by Sriwijaya Air, Super Air Jet, Lion Air and Nam Air, while Scoot upgraded aircraft capacity and increased flight frequencies from Singapore. The airport was designated as a Hajj embarkation and debarkation airport, strengthening its role in religious travel, and handled special international operations including the World Air Cruise 2025 from France. YIA also began export cargo operations, including shipments of fresh salacca to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur. Route development initiatives included transit programs targeting Australian travelers and efforts to develop Umrah flights and international transit traffic.
5-20 Million Passengers
Adelaide Airport, Australia
Adelaide Airport (ADL) reached 9 million annual passengers in 2025, representing 21% year-on-year growth and surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The airport secured its first-ever nonstop service to the U.S. with United Airlines launching flights to San Francisco, while Indonesia AirAsia launched services to Bali. Cathay Pacific resumed Adelaide-Hong Kong services and China Southern Airlines extended its Guangzhou service to year-round operations. Domestically, Jetstar based an additional Airbus A320 aircraft at ADL and Qantas introduced the airport’s first A220 service. The airport also continued investing in infrastructure through its A$600 million ($411 million) Project Flight terminal expansion program.
Cam Ranh International Terminal, Vietnam
Cam Ranh International Terminal (CXR) welcomed 13 new airlines and secured 14 new city pair links in 2025, adding 18 weekly aircraft movements. International passenger traffic reached 4.69 million in 2025, up 7% year on year, supported by new services including routes from Cheongju, Singapore, Seoul Incheon, Moscow and Haikou. The airport expanded airline incentive programs and marketing partnerships, including social media campaigns and familiarization trips targeting key markets such as China, Korea, Southeast Asia and CIS countries. The second phase of terminal expansion is planned to support long-term growth, with capacity targeted to reach 8 million passengers by 2030.
Da Nang International Airport, Vietnam
Da Nang International Airport (DAD) reached a network of 43 destinations across scheduled and charter services and welcomed nine new airlines during 2025. New routes and destinations included Yangon, Almaty, Tashkent, Manila, Kuantan and Shenzhen, supporting growth in emerging markets, particularly the CIS region. The airport also secured the reopening of key international markets, including Middle East connectivity through Emirates’ Dubai service via Bangkok and renewed China connectivity with China Southern Airlines services to Shenzhen. DAD continued working with tourism authorities and international airport partners to support route development.
Nagoya Chubu Centrair International Airport, Japan
Nagoya Chubu Centrair International Airport (NGO) reported strong traffic growth in 2025, handling 11.6 million passengers, up 9.5% year on year. Domestic traffic reached 6.2 million passengers, up 3.4%, while international traffic grew 17.5% to 5.4 million passengers, despite some service reductions from China toward the end of the year. The airport continued strengthening airline partnerships and route development through collaborative marketing, corporate engagement and destination promotion initiatives. A key initiative is the “Fly Centrair” program, which encourages local corporations and business travelers to use international flights from NGO, supporting higher-yield traffic.
Penang International Airport, Malaysia
Penang International Airport (PEN) handled 8.31 million passengers in 2025, representing 8.4% growth, supported by a 7.3% increase in seat capacity and the launch of six new services. PEN welcomed four new airlines, bringing the total to 26 carriers, and expanded its network to 34 cities across Asia and the Middle East. New routes launched in 2025 included services to Yangon, Jakarta, Medan, Singapore, Chengdu and Haikou. Traffic from China and India grew significantly, with China traffic rising 88.9% to nearly 1 million passengers. The airport worked closely with Tourism Malaysia and Penang Global Tourism on joint marketing campaigns.
Over 20 Million Passengers
Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore
Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) reported a milestone year in 2025, handling close to 70 million passengers and expanding its network to more than 170 cities supported by over 7,300 weekly scheduled flights. During the year, the airport welcomed three new passenger and freighter airlines and added 13 new passenger routes, including Vienna, Ulaanbaatar, Labuan Bajo and Nha Trang. China remained the fastest-growing major market, with eight new Chinese city links launched. SIN worked with airline partners on marketing campaigns, stopover programs and route launch support, including campaigns with VietJet, Trip.com and Air New Zealand. The airport also facilitated more than 200 codeshare and interline discussions.
Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) handled 63.4 million passengers in 2025, up 11% year on year and surpassing its pre-pandemic traffic level of 62.3 million in 2019. The airport welcomed seven new airlines and launched 40 new routes, bringing the total number of carriers to 70. Network developments included British Airways’ return from London Heathrow after a six-year hiatus and Malaysia Airlines restoring services to Paris and Brisbane. AirAsia, Batik Air and IndiGo also expanded connectivity. Traffic from China grew 21% to 8.21 million passengers, and India traffic rose 6.4% to 3.46 million passengers. The airport supported airline growth through incentive programs, joint marketing campaigns and airline engagement initiatives.
Melbourne Airport, Australia
Melbourne Airport (MEL) handled 37 million passengers in 2025, reaching record traffic levels and recording a historic monthly peak of 3.42 million passengers in December. The airport added 902,000 additional long-haul seats during the year and expanded its airline portfolio to a record 42 carriers. Network developments included Delta Air Lines launching its first flights to MEL, Qatar Airways and Virgin Australia commencing daily service to Doha, Shenzhen Airlines launching a Melbourne route and LATAM increasing Santiago flights to daily. The airport supported route growth through joint marketing programs, incentive funding partnerships and targeted campaigns.
Sydney Airport, Australia
Sydney Airport (SYD) welcomed new international carriers including Hong Kong Airlines, Turkish Airlines and Juneyao Air in 2025, adding nearly 400,000 incremental seats in the second half of the year. Passenger traffic surpassed pre-pandemic levels, reaching 102% of 2019 volumes, with capacity 5% above 2019 levels. SYD supported growth through structured incentive programs and targeted marketing campaigns, including its “Life Takes Off When You Do” initiative and joint campaigns with airline and tourism partners. A strengthened airline engagement model supported route performance and operational efficiency, while collaboration with Tourism Australia and Destination NSW helped drive demand.
Tokyo Narita Airport, Japan
Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT) supported multiple new routes and airline entries in 2025, including Zipair’s Houston service, T’way Air’s flights from Busan, Japan Airlines’ New Delhi route and new routes from Thai VietJet, Air Cambodia and Parata Air. Overall, 18 new routes have been launched by 15 airlines over the past 12 months. During the year, NRT introduced an incentive program offering cash-back incentives of up to 130% of landing fees for new routes and incremental off-peak flights during the first three years of operation. It also conducted passenger and online preference surveys in cooperation with airlines to support route planning and market development, providing airline partners with detailed demand analysis.
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