The world’s most heavily traveled air routes in 2024 were once again dominated by domestic flights, with the Jeju-Seoul route retaining its long-standing crown as the busiest air corridor on the planet. On average, 226 flights operated between South Korea’s capital and its popular island getaway each day, far outpacing other high-traffic routes worldwide.
Asia-Pacific Routes Lead Global Rankings
For years, the Jeju-Seoul route has consistently ranked as the world’s most trafficked, and 2024 was no exception. While pre-pandemic levels sometimes exceeded 250 daily flights, the latest figures represent about 90% of 2019 volumes, marking a steady recovery in air travel demand.
Trailing far behind but still heavily utilized, the second busiest air route was Melbourne-Sydney (157 flights per day), while Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo connection (152 flights per day) came in third. Two Japanese domestic routes rounded out the top five: Sapporo-Tokyo (147 flights per day) and Fukuoka-Tokyo (137 flights per day).
With 45 of the top 100 busiest routes originating in the Asia-Pacific region, this part of the world continues to dominate global air traffic rankings.
New York Tops Global City Pairings
Despite its decline in ranking, New York remained the most frequently appearing city in global air travel, featuring in 13 of the top 100 busiest air routes. Tokyo followed with eight routes, while London appeared seven times on the list.
The London-New York corridor, a key intercontinental business route, saw an average of 65 flights per day, tying with the UK’s Edinburgh-London domestic connection. At 6.8 hours, it was one of the longest flights among the world’s busiest air routes, alongside Cairo-Jeddah. Meanwhile, the shortest route in the rankings was Vancouver-Victoria in Canada, averaging just 23 minutes in flight time.
Europe’s Busiest Routes
The Dublin-London route remained Europe’s busiest city pair for the third consecutive year, ranking 27th globally with an average of 91 daily flights in 2024. Amsterdam-London, once Europe’s top route in 2019, fell to second place with 84 daily flights, reflecting a shift toward rail travel between the two capitals. Antalya-Istanbul (69 flights per day) completed Europe’s top three, highlighting Turkey’s strong domestic air traffic.
The war in Ukraine also impacted the rankings, with the once-popular Moscow-Simferopol route disappearing from the list. However, demand for flights between Moscow and Kaliningrad surged by 39%, while flights to Istanbul increased by 58%, making Moscow-Istanbul the fifth busiest route in the broader European region.
