Thelife- Travel data provider OAG revealed the world's top 10 busiest international routes for 2023.
- The data is based on airline seat capacity, and nearly every route is in Asia or the Middle East.
Travel data provider OAG released its annual rankings of the world's busiest international flight routes, and nine out of the top 10 are in Asia and the Middle East.
Based on available airline seat capacity, the busiest route for 2023 is between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore — cities only about 60 minutes apart by plane.
Overall, the route saw 4.9 million seats, which is a 50% increase from last year, per OAG.
Flights between Cairo and Jeddah, Saudia Arabia — busiest in 2022 but dethroned this year — came in as a close second with about 4.8 million seats.
The only Western route was between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and London Heathrow Airport, two popular business and leisure destinations.
Compared to 2022, every route in the top 10 rankings exceeded capacity, according to OAG. The biggest jumps were the two routes between Seoul and Japan's Tokyo Narita and Osaka Kansai airports, representing a 227% and 356% increase in 2023, respectively.
Still, there are a handful of routes behind 2019 levels, particularly the route between Hong Kong and Taipei, which is nearly half of what it was pre-pandemic.
Here is a closer look at the world's busiest routes by airline seat capacity, per OAG.
10. Bangkok-Seoul
Number of Seats: 3.36 million
Ranking in 2022: 29
Ranking in 2019: 21
Percent change from 2019: Up 9%
Percent change from 2022: Up 111%
9. Bangkok-Singapore
Number of Seats: 3.48 million
Ranking in 2022: 8
Ranking in 2019: 9
Percent change from 2019: Down 9%
Percent change from 2022: Up 47%
8. New York JFK-London Heathrow
Number of Seats: 3.89 million
Ranking in 2022: 4
Ranking in 2019: 8
Percent change from 2019: Up 1%
Percent change from 2022: Up 24%
7. Jakarta-Singapore
Number of Seats: 3.91 million
Ranking in 2022: 4
Ranking in 2019: 8
Percent change from 2019: Up 1%
Percent change from 2022: Up 81%
6. Dubai-Riyadh
Number of Seats: 3.99 million
Ranking in 2022: 2
Ranking in 2019: 19
Percent change from 2019: Up 27%
Percent change from 2022: Up 20%
5. Seoul-Tokyo Narita
Number of Seats: 4.12 million
Ranking in 2022: 63
Ranking in 2019: 16
Percent change from 2019: Up 29%
Percent change from 2022: Up 227%
4. Seoul-Osaka
Number of Seats: 4.22 million
Ranking in 2022: 164
Ranking in 2019: 12
Percent change from 2019: Up 22%
Percent change from 2022: Up 356%
3. Hong Kong-Taipei
Number of Seats: 4.57 million
Ranking in 2022: 14
Ranking in 2019: 1
Percent change from 2019: Down -43%
Percent change from 2022: Up 130%
2. Cairo-Jeddah
Number of Seats: 4.80 million
Ranking in 2022: 1
Ranking in 2019: 14
Percent change from 2019: Up 42%
Percent change from 2022: Up 38%
1. Kuala Lumpur-Singapore
Number of Seats: 4.89 million
Ranking in 2022: 3
Ranking in 2019: 2
Percent change from 2019: Down -12%
Percent change from 2022: Up 50%