According to research published by the OAG aviation travel analysis platform, the Asian skies are particularly crowded this year, with 9 out of 10 of the busiest domestic air routes in the world and 9 out of 10 of the busiest international air routes on this continent.
Similar to both 2019 and 2022, the busiest overall air route, determined by the largest scheduled seat capacity for 2023, is the route connecting Jeju International Airport and Seoul Gimpo in South Korea, with 13,728,786 available seats.
This is even more noteworthy considering that the capacity between these airports in 2023 is 21% lower than in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Five other domestic routes in the top 10 also experienced capacity reductions during the same period, but not by much. The most significant decrease was 12% for the route from Mumbai to Delhi.
Hanoi – City. Ho Chi Minh is the world’s fourth busiest domestic flight route. Photo: OAG
Four routes saw an increase in air capacity from 2019 to 2023, with Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam ranking fourth in the world.
The second and third busiest domestic routes are both in Japan: Sapporo New Chitose to Tokyo Haneda (11,936,302) and Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda (11,264,229).
In a previous report, OAG honored Tokyo Haneda Airport as the third busiest airport in the world this year (after Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in the U.S. and Dubai), with an annual total air capacity of 52.6 million seats.
The route between Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Singapore Changi had the most available seats of any international route this year (4,891,952).
Cairo in Egypt to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (4,795,712), and Hong Kong to Taipei, Taiwan, China (4,568,280) rounded out the top three.
Looking back to 2019, the Hong Kong to Taipei route (China) was the busiest international route, according to OAG, but the capacity between the cities, 1 hour 45 minutes apart, has decreased by 43% since then.
In mainland China, the busiest routes are Beijing to Hongqiao Shanghai (8,355,225), Guangzhou to Hongqiao Shanghai (7,162,999), and Hongqiao Shanghai to Shenzhen (6,969,789).
Additionally, OAG ranked three other routes in the top 10 for China in 2023: Hangzhou to Shenzhen (4,281,873), Guangzhou to Beijing (4,269,799), and Beijing to Shenzhen (3,302,381).
On the contrary, the busiest route in the U.S. this year, known for high passenger traffic, flying back and forth from Honolulu in Hawaii to Kahului, only has a capacity of 3,612,212.
@Vietnamnet
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