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The following are lists of the world's busiest passenger air routes, based on number of passengers, seat capacity, or aircraft movements.

By number of passengers

World

The world's twelve busiest air routes by origin-and-destination passenger volume:[1] [2] [3]

Rank City 1 City 2 Distance[4] 2015 Passengers
(in millions)[5] 		2014 Passengers
(in millions)[6] 		2012 Passengers
(in millions) 		2011 Passengers
(in millions) 		Note
1 South Korea Seoul-Gimpo South Korea Jeju 450 km 11.1 10.5 10.156 9.9 Domestic
2 Japan Tokyo Japan Sapporo 819 km 7.8 7.0 8.211 7.0+ Domestic
3 Japan Tokyo Japan Fukuoka 883 km 7.6 8.3 6.640 6.6+ Domestic
4 India Delhi India Mumbai 1150 km 7.3 6.8 6.1 5.6 Domestic
5 Australia Sydney Australia Melbourne 706 km 7.2 7.8 6.943 7.5 Domestic
6 China Beijing China Shanghai 1075 km 6.1 5.8 7.246 6.6+ Domestic
7 Brazil São Paulo Brazil Rio de Janeiro 366 km 7.716 7.6+ Domestic
8 Japan Tokyo Japan Osaka 405 km 6.744 7.5 Domestic
9 Hong Kong Hong Kong Taiwan Taipei 780 km 5.1 5.1 5.513 6.2+ Regional
10 Japan Tokyo Japan Okinawa 1554 km 4.584 4.1 Domestic
11 Australia Sydney Australia Brisbane 800 km 4.45 Domestic
12 South Africa Johannesburg South Africa Cape Town 1271 km 4.407 4.5 Domestic

The world's five busiest international air routes by origin-and-destination passenger volume:

Rank City 1 City 2 2015 Passengers

(in millions)[7]

1 Hong Kong Hong Kong Taiwan Taipei 5.1
2 Indonesia Jakarta Singapore Singapore 3.4
3 Thailand Bangkok Hong Kong Hong Kong 3
4 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Singapore Singapore 2.7
5 Hong Kong Hong Kong Singapore Singapore 2.7

Europe

Busiest air routes inside the EU, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway *

Data retrieved from Eurostat[8]
Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
1 France Toulouse/Blagnac France Paris/Orly 2,322,456 2,330,224 2,379,100 2,330,949 2,318,015 2,358,917
2 Spain Madrid/Barajas Spain Barcelona/El Prat 3,102,436 2,550,462 2,213,200 2,204,765 2,253,387 2,328,726
3 France Nice/Côte d'Azur France Paris/Orly 2,236,436 2,175,773 2,160,300 2,072,138 2,113,506 2,124,792
4 Italy Catania/Fontanarossa Italy Rome/Fiumicino 1,842,940 1,694,400 1,566,800 1,869,881 1,979,648 1,998,352
5 Norway Oslo Norway Trondheim 1,749,545 1,818,877 1,873,944 1,912,141 1,942,959 1,988,105
6 Germany Berlin/Tegel Germany Munich 1,667,408 1,731,145 1,831,700 1,868,877 1,974,929 1,939,820
7 Germany Frankfurt Germany Berlin/Tegel 1,792,655 1,813,063 1,845,600 1,792,006 1,907,218 1,935,465
8 Norway Oslo Norway Bergen 1,691,887 1,729,076 1,722,398 1,819,279 1,810,826 1,881,960
9 Germany Munich Germany Hamburg 1,717,734 1,719,351 1,713,200 1,756,990 1,811,425 1,805,211
10 Greece Athens Greece Thessaloniki 997,200 1,543,993 1,633,045 1,803,733
11 Spain Barcelona/El Prat Spain Palma de Mallorca/Son Sant Joan 1,639,423 1,460,684 1,388,900 1,410,172 1,576,063 1,772,613
12 United Kingdom London/Heathrow Republic of Ireland Dublin 1,556,111 1,577,649 1,663,900 1,650,394 1,682,855 1,751,689
13 Spain Madrid/Barajas Spain Palma de Mallorca/Son Sant Joan 1,604,853 1,442,410 1,224,700 1,283,404 1,411,314 1,687,547
14 Netherlands Amsterdam/Schiphol United Kingdom London/Heathrow 1,406,964 1,429,800 1,443,400 1,486,783 1,587,605 1,617,170
15 Germany Munich Germany Düsseldorf 1,569,364 1,553,361 1,558,200 1,527,416 1,557,442 1,565,997
16 Norway Oslo Norway Stavanger 1,434,043 1,517,195 1,536,032 1,564,631 1,515,870 1,564,127
17 Sweden Stockholm Denmark Copenhagen 1,166,000 1,269,200 1,325,700 1,444,429 1,461,166 1,553,276
18 Italy Rome/Fiumicino Italy Palermo/Falcone Borsellino 1,499,933 1,360,400 1,264,100 1,475,957 1,481,174 1,543,462
19 Spain Madrid/Barajas Spain Gran Canaria 1,438,377 1,301,539 1,152,669 1,181,442 1,305,670 1,508,972
20 Denmark Copenhagen Norway Oslo 1,206,480 1,291,018 1,322,948 1,402,753 1,427,618 1,506,326
21 United Kingdom London/Heathrow Germany Frankfurt 1,459,909 1,482,649 1,488,600 1,506,826 1,530,986 1,486,291
22 Sweden Stockholm Norway Oslo 1,153,232 1,187,164 1,204,351 1,354,730 1,338,163 1,387,885
23 Germany Frankfurt Germany Hamburg 1,587,593 1,385,867 1,362,400 1,343,857 1,361,027 1,372,185
24 United Kingdom London/Gatwick Spain Barcelona/El Prat 517,820 741,735 1,131,350 1,273,850 1,354,193 1,362,488
25 United Kingdom London/Heathrow Spain Madrid/Barajas 1,093,400 1,197,700 1,264,800 1,274,714 1,320,834 1,317,511
26 Spain Barcelona/El Prat Italy Rome/Fiumicino 1,184,506 1,315,868
27 United Kingdom London/Gatwick Republic of Ireland Dublin 1,086,701 1,309,524
28 Spain Barcelona/El Prat Netherlands Amsterdam 1,204,814 1,307,902
29 Spain Madrid/Barajas Spain Tenerife North 1,337,050 1,167,731 1,102,701 1,094,815 1,149,450 1,305,110
30 Germany Köln-Bonn Germany Berlin/Tegel 1,026,900 1,088,700 1,288,200 1,321,336 1,259,124 1,270,452

* Figures are only available for EU countries, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway. Among other European countries, based on airport statistics, no other country than Russia, Ukraine and Turkey can have domestic routes with more than 1 million passengers.

Based on aircraft movements statistics, Istanbul/Atatürk - Izmir/Adnan Menderes is in 2012 possibly busier than Barcelona/El Prat - Madrid/Barajas route and Istanbul/Atatürk - Antalya route is busier than Toulouse/Blagnac - Paris/Orly route.[9]

The St-Petersburg Pulkovo Airport - Moscow (three airports) route was used by 2,965,331 passengers in 2013.[10]

**Madrid-Barcelona had 4,627,000 passengers in 2007, meaning a reduction by 34% in 2010, partly because of a new high-speed railway. The decline has continued from 560 weekly flights in 2010 to 380 in 2012.[9]

According to [8], in 2016 Lisbon-Madrid Barajas had 1,299,412, and should therefore be placed in 30th.

Busiest air routes between an airport in Europe (EU, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway) and outside Europe

Eurostat[8]
Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 Passengers (2010) 2012 2014 2015 2016
1 United Kingdom London/Heathrow United Arab Emirates Dubai/Intl 1,974,098 2,067,227 2,838,717 2,862,852 3,038,958
2 United Kingdom London/Heathrow United States New York/John F Kennedy 2,551,276 2,881,390 3,002,024 3,078,693 2,960,268
3 United Kingdom London/Heathrow United States Los Angeles/Intl 1,419,144 1,428,040 1,481,023 1,645,002 1,565,992
4 United Kingdom London/Heathrow Hong Kong Hong Kong/Chek Lap Kok 1,801,520 1,638,834 1,608,980 1,584,486 1,574,741
5 France Paris/Charles De Gaulle United States New York/John F Kennedy 1,190,914 1,422,259 1,367,882 1,501,416 1,424,611
6 France Paris/Orly Guadeloupe Guadeloupe/Pointe-à-Pitre 1,098,322 1,077,254 1,135,945 1,166,850 1,214,916
7 France Paris/Charles De Gaulle Canada Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1,158,381 1,092,084 1,107,738 1,147,598 1,148,800
8 France Paris/Charles De Gaulle United Arab Emirates Dubai/Intl 716,865 843,205 1,063,559 1,076,875 1,101,546
9 United Kingdom London/Heathrow United States Chicago/O'Hare 1,138,579 1,188,326 1,161,250 1,060,332 1,073,522
10 United Kingdom London/Heathrow United States New York/Newark Liberty(NJ) 1,091,804 1,167,828 1,168,357 1,000,189 952,310
United Kingdom London/Heathrow Singapore Singapore/Changi 1,507,032

United States (September 2014 - August 2015)

Busiest air routes by city pairs within the United States [11]
Rank City 1 City 2 Passengers
(Sep 2014-Aug 2015)
1 Chicago, IL (Metro Area) New York City, NY (Metro Area) 4,020,000
2 Los Angeles, CA (Metro Area) San Francisco, CA (Metro Area) 3,660,000
3 Los Angeles, CA (Metro Area) New York City, NY (Metro Area) 3,420,000
4 Chicago, IL (Metro Area) Los Angeles, CA (Metro Area) 3,010,000
5 Miami, FL (Metro Area) New York City, NY (Metro Area) 2,750,000
6 Atlanta, GA (Metro Area) Chicago, IL (Metro Area) 2,720,000
7 Chicago, IL (Metro Area) Minneapolis, MN (Metro Area) 2,720,000
8 Atlanta, GA (Metro Area) New York City, NY (Metro Area) 2,600,000
9 Atlanta, GA (Metro Area) Orlando, FL (Metro Area) 2,620,000
10 Chicago, IL (Metro Area) Washington, DC (Metro Area) 2,620,000

Australia (2016-17)

See also: List of the busiest air routes in Australia by passenger traffic
Busiest domestic air routes in Australia[12] (all passengers including connecting)
Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 Passengers (2016-17)
1 Melbourne Sydney 8,974,400
2 Brisbane Sydney 4,695,700
3 Brisbane Melbourne 3,500,500
4 Gold Coast Sydney 2,712,700
5 Adelaide Melbourne 2,413,200
6 Melbourne Perth 2,048,100
7 Gold Coast Melbourne 1,992,200
8 Adelaide Sydney 1,886,500
9 Perth Sydney 1,737,800
10 Melbourne Hobart 1,598,700

India (2015-16)

Busiest domestic air routes in India:[13]

Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 Passengers (2015–16)
1 Delhi Mumbai 7,340,000
2 Delhi Bengaluru 3,478,000
3 Bengaluru Mumbai 3,368,000
4 Delhi Kolkata 2,077,000
5 Mumbai Goa 1,980,000
5 Ahmedabad Mumbai 1,782,000
7 Delhi Hyderabad 1,386,000
8 Mumbai Chennai 1,278,000
9 Delhi Chennai 1,152,000
10 Mumbai Hyderabad 1,098,000

Top 10 routes account for about 31% of all Indian traffic.

By seat capacity

The following lists the world's top 10 busiest routes based on total number of seats per year flown in each direction.[14][15]

Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 December 2016 Seats
(in millions)		 August 2015 Seats
(in millions)		 Airlines Serving
1 South Korea Seoul-Gimpo South Korea Jeju 6.561 6.8 Air Busan, Asiana Airlines, T'way Airlines, Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Korean Air
2 Japan Tokyo-Haneda Japan Sapporo-New Chitose 6.209 6.2 Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Air Do, Skymark Airlines
3 Japan Tokyo-Haneda Japan Fukuoka 5.961 5.8 All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Skymark Airlines
4 Australia Sydney Australia Melbourne 5.067 5.0 Jetstar Airways, Qantas, Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia
5 Hong Kong Hong Kong Taiwan Taipei 4.146 4.2 Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon, China Airlines, EVA Air, Hong Kong Airlines
6 India Delhi India Mumbai 4.143 3.9 Air India, Air India Regional, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Vistara
7 Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam Hanoi 4.141 Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, Vietjet Air
8 China Beijing China Shanghai-Hongqiao 3.962 3.8 Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, Xiamen Airlines
9 Indonesia Surabaya Indonesia Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta 3.850 Airfast Indonesia, Batik Air, Citilink, Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia X, Lion Air, Sriwijaya Air
10 Japan Tokyo-Haneda Japan Okinawa 3.785 3.8 All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines

The following lists the world's top 10 busiest routes based on total number of seat kilometers per year flown as of 2015.[14]

Rank Airport 1 Airport 2 Seat kilometers
(in billions)
1 United Kingdom London-Heathrow United States New York-JFK 10.92
2 United Kingdom London-Heathrow United Arab Emirates Dubai 9.37
3 United Kingdom London-Heathrow Hong Kong Hong Kong 8.75
4 United Kingdom London-Heathrow United States Los Angeles 8.53
5 United Kingdom London-Heathrow Singapore Singapore 8.21
6 United States Los Angeles United States New York-JFK 8.12
7 United States Los Angeles Australia Sydney 7.68
8 Australia Sydney United Arab Emirates Dubai 6.65
9 Taiwan Taipei United States Los Angeles 6.44
10 United States Los Angeles South Korea Seoul-Incheon 6.43

By aircraft movements

Busiest by air movements, September 2007

The following is a list of the worlds 25 busiest air routes based on the number of scheduled daily flights in both directions as of December 2013.[16] Note that these statistics do not consider the number of passengers carried. As of December 2013, Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo is the busiest route with 284 daily flights. 23 of the top 25 routes on the list are domestic routes. The busiest international route is Dublin to London (all airports), with 91 daily flights.

Rank City 1 City 2 Flights per day Top Carriers
1 Rio de Janeiro São Paulo 284 Avianca Brazil, Gol Airlines, TAM Airlines, Azul Airlines
2 Jeju Seoul-Gimpo 209 Air Busan, Asiana Airlines, Eastar Jet, T'way Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Korean Air
3 Melbourne Sydney 192 Jetstar Airways, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Tigerair Australia
4 Chicago New York City 184 American Airlines, Delta Connection, Delta Shuttle, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, United Express
5 Delhi Mumbai 140 Air India, Air-India Express, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Air Vistara
6 Fukuoka Tokyo 136 All Nippon Airways, Air Nippon, Japan Airlines, Skymark Airlines
7 Sapporo Tokyo 128 Air Do, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Skymark Airlines
8 Los Angeles San Francisco 124 American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection, Delta Shuttle, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, United Express, Virgin America
9 Jakarta Surabaya 123 Airfast Indonesia, Batik Air, Citilink, Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia Air Asia, Lion Air, Nam Air, Sriwijaya Air
10 Cape Town Johannesburg 116 Comair, Kulula.com, Mango, South African Airways, South African Express, Safair
11- Osaka Tokyo 115 All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Skymark Airlines
11- Toronto Montreal 106 Air Canada, Porter Airlines, Westjet, Air Transat
13 Beijing Shanghai 100 Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines
14 Brisbane Sydney 99 Jetstar Airways, Qantas, Virgin Australia, Tiger Airways Australia
15 Los Angeles New York City 98 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Qantas, United Airlines, Virgin America
16 Dublin London 91 Aer Lingus, Ryanair, British Airways, CityJet
17 Hong Kong Taipei 83 Cathay Pacific Airways, China Airlines, Dragonair, EVA Air, Hong Kong Airlines
18 Paris Toulouse 82 Air France, easyJet
19 Brisbane Melbourne 72 Alliance Airlines, Jetstar Airways, Qantas, Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia
19 Fort Lauderdale New York City 72 Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines
19 Honolulu Kahului 72 Hawaiian Airlines, Island Air, Mokulele
19 Delhi Bangalore 84 AirAsia India, Air India, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Air Vistara
20 Miami New York City 70 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, US Airways
20 Okinawa Tokyo 70 All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Skymark Airlines
20 Mumbai Bangalore 70 Air India, Air-India Express, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Air Vistara
21 New York City Orlando 69 American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection, JetBlue Airways
22 Las Vegas Los Angeles 68 American Airlines, Boutique Air, Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, United Express, Virgin America

See also

1 Includes very detailed statistics regarding busiest passenger air routes to/from and within this region

References

  1. ^ "300 world 'super routes' attract 20% of all air travel, Amadeus reveals in new analysis of global trends". Amadeus. 16 April 2013.
  2. ^ "Top flights". Daily chart. The Economist. May 14, 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-14. Jeju, on the South Korean island of the same name, is not one of the country's 20 biggest cities. Yet the island's allure as a domestic tourist destination resulted in 9.9m passengers flying between Gimpo and Jeju (in either direction) in 2011. This makes it the busiest airline route in the world, according to Amadeus, a company that provides technology to the travel industry.
  3. ^ url=http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pages/2015-09-16-01.aspx
  4. ^ "Airport Distance Calculator".
  5. ^ "60th Edition of IATA World Air Transport Statistics".
  6. ^ "59th Edition of IATA World Air Transport Statistics".
  7. ^ "60th Edition of IATA World Air Transport Statistics".
  8. ^ a b c Eurostat>Transport>Data>Database Search the "avia_par_fr", "avia_par_no" etc datasets (accessed Oct 2017)
  9. ^ a b West-to-East traffic shift continues for summer 2012 | EUROCONTROL. Eurocontrol.int. Retrieved on 2013-07-16.
  10. ^ "Airport Indicators". Pulkovo Airport.
  11. ^ "Bureau of Transportation Statistics". United State Department of Transportation.
  12. ^ "Australian Domestic Airline Activity 2016-2017" (PDF). Aviation Statistics. Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics. 2017. p. 3. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  13. ^ https://factly.in/10-routes-account-for-close-to-a-third-of-all-domestic-air-traffic/
  14. ^ a b "Top 15 routes in relation to capacity, ASKs and frequency revealed". Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  15. ^ Travaller: World's busiest air routes: The busiest route in the world will surprise you
  16. ^ "Airport Movements". QuickTrip. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2013-11-09. ((cite web)): Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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