The world's busiest air routes

The ten busiest air routes in the world in 2025, ranked by the number of scheduled seats in both directions over the calendar year, as published by the aviation data company OAG. All ten are domestic routes, nine of them in Asia-Pacific. The busiest international route, Hong Kong – Taipei, had 6.8 million seats and falls just outside the top ten.

Airport

17 days ago

Updated: 16/10/2026

#	Route	Country	Seats (2025)	Main airlines
1	Jeju (CJU) – Seoul Gimpo (GMP)	South Korea	14,384,766	Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T'way Air, Air Busan, Eastar Jet
2	Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)	Japan	12,099,499	Japan Airlines, ANA, Air Do, Skymark Airlines
3	Fukuoka (FUK) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)	Japan	11,496,706	Japan Airlines, ANA, Skymark Airlines, StarFlyer
4	Hanoi (HAN) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)	Vietnam	11,078,775	Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Vietravel Airlines, Sun PhuQuoc Airways
5	Jeddah (JED) – Riyadh (RUH)	Saudi Arabia	9,819,558	Saudia, flynas, flyadeal, Riyadh Air
6	Melbourne (MEL) – Sydney (SYD)	Australia	8,951,497	Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar
7	Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Okinawa Naha (OKA)	Japan	8,052,864	Japan Airlines, ANA, Skymark Airlines, Solaseed Air
8	Mumbai (BOM) – Delhi (DEL)	India	7,642,016	IndiGo, Air India, Akasa Air, Air India Express, SpiceJet
9	Beijing Capital (PEK) – Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)	China	7,454,950	Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines
10	Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) – Shenzhen (SZX)	China	7,138,673	Shenzhen Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Juneyao Air, Spring Airlines, Xiamen Airlines

1. Jeju (CJU) – Seoul Gimpo (GMP)

Around 39,000 seats a day are scheduled on this hop of about 450 km, and the average one-way fare fell to about US$44 in 2025.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · OAG press release: Jeju–Seoul Gimpo is the world's busiest route in 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: Jeju International Airport, airlines and route table (accessed Oct 2026)
2. Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)

The main air link between Hokkaido and Tokyo is back to within 3% of its 2019 capacity, with four airlines sharing the route.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Wikipedia: New Chitose Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026)
3. Fukuoka (FUK) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)

One of the few large domestic routes now above its 2019 capacity; Fukuoka Airport's domestic terminal is about ten minutes by subway from the city's business district.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Wikipedia: Fukuoka Airport, airlines and access (accessed Oct 2026)
4. Hanoi (HAN) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

Six airlines compete on Vietnam's main trunk route of about 1,170 km, and the average one-way fare fell 11% in 2025 to about US$67.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Wikipedia: Noi Bai International Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026)
5. Jeddah (JED) – Riyadh (RUH)

Seats grew 13% in 2025, the fastest growth in the top ten, and Riyadh Air joined the route in June 2026 with Boeing 787s.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · OAG press release: Jeju–Seoul Gimpo is the world's busiest route in 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · CAPA: Riyadh Air commences Riyadh–Jeddah service (Jun 2026)
6. Melbourne (MEL) – Sydney (SYD)

Australia's busiest route had about 3% fewer seats in 2025 than in 2024, and is flown by Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar.

Sources: Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Destination NSW: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025 (Jan 2026) · Wikipedia: Melbourne Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026)
7. Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Okinawa Naha (OKA)

At about 1,570 km it is the longest route in the top ten, linking Tokyo with the main island of Okinawa.

Sources: Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Time Out: the world's busiest flight routes of 2025 (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: Naha Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026)
8. Mumbai (BOM) – Delhi (DEL)

Seats fell about 4% in 2025; since Navi Mumbai Airport opened on 25 December 2025, IndiGo, Akasa Air and Air India Express also fly to Delhi from Mumbai's second airport.

Sources: Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: List of busiest passenger flight routes, OAG seat data 2021–2025 (accessed Oct 2026) · Wikipedia: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026) · AeroRoutes: Indian carriers outline Navi Mumbai operations from December 2025 (Nov 2025)
9. Beijing Capital (PEK) – Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)

China's busiest air route lost 3% of its seats in 2025; Hongqiao's Terminal 2 sits next to the railway station served by the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line, its main competitor.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, airlines and ground transport (accessed Oct 2026)
10. Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) – Shenzhen (SZX)

Seats rose 4% in 2025, lifting the route from eleventh to tenth place, and capacity is now 14% above its pre-pandemic level.

Sources: OAG: Busiest Routes 2025 (Dec 2025) · OAG press release: Jeju–Seoul Gimpo is the world's busiest route in 2025 (Dec 2025) · Aerospace Global News: the world's busiest airline routes in 2025, OAG seat figures (Dec 2025) · Wikipedia: Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, airlines and destinations (accessed Oct 2026)

Sources (16)

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The world's busiest air routes

The world's busiest air routes

1. Jeju (CJU) – Seoul Gimpo (GMP)

2. Sapporo New Chitose (CTS) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)

3. Fukuoka (FUK) – Tokyo Haneda (HND)

4. Hanoi (HAN) – Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

5. Jeddah (JED) – Riyadh (RUH)

6. Melbourne (MEL) – Sydney (SYD)

7. Tokyo Haneda (HND) – Okinawa Naha (OKA)

8. Mumbai (BOM) – Delhi (DEL)

9. Beijing Capital (PEK) – Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)

10. Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) – Shenzhen (SZX)