Asia-Pacific dominates top 10 busiest air routes

Airline routes in the Asia-Pacific region dominate the world’s busiest for 2025, according to global airline data specialist OAG, accounting for nine of the top 10.

Based on the number of scheduled airline seats, South Korean domestic route, Jeju to Seoul Gimpo was the busiest route in 2025 with 14.4 million seats. Seven carriers operate on the highly competitive route.

The top 10 busiest routes were all domestic connections. The second and third placed routes are in Japan, with Sapporo New Chitose-Tokyo Haneda in second place with 12.1 million seats, and Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda in third place.

Vietnam’s busiest route, linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City took fourth place, with more than 11 million seats. Six carriers operate on this route, with airfares decreasing by 11 per cent year-on-year with an average one-way ticket of $100.40.

Australia’s busiest domestic connection, between Melbourne and Sydney, was the sixth busiest service in the world, at just under nine million seats.

The only route in the top 10 outside the Asia-Pacific region was Jeddah to Riyadh, in fifth position, with seat numbers increasing 13 per cent year-on-year, with 9.8 million seats in 2025 — the fastest growth of any route.

In terms of cross-border routes, Hong Kong-Taipei was the busiest with 6.5 million seats, followed by Cairo-Jeddah at 5.8 million, and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore Changi with 5.6 million.

Seven of the top 10 international routes are in Asia, highlighting the region’s dominant position in global air traffic.