Aviation analytics firm OAG has published its report on the busiest airline routes for 2023, with Kuala Lumpur International-Singapore Changi topping the list of international routes.
The route had a total of 4.9 million seats last year, pushing Cairo-Jeddah down to second spot with 4.8 million seats.
Seven of the top ten busiest international routes involved Asia-Pacific destinations, with Hong Kong-Taipei taking third spot with 4.6 million seats (down around 43 per cent on 2019 levels).
New York JFK-London Heathrow came in eighth position with 3.9 million seats.
However these figures are far smaller than those for the busiest domestic routes for 2023, with Jeju International – Seoul Gimpo seeing 13.7 million seats, followed by Sapporo New Chitose – Tokyo Haneda (11.9 million) and Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda (11.3 million).
In terms of airports, OAG’s data shows that Atlanta was the busiest global hub in 2023, followed by Dubai International, Tokyo Haneda and London Heathrow.
Heathrow reported its highest ever September passenger numbers this year, in a month which also saw the airport’s monthly passenger figures exceed the equivalent period in 2019 for the first time since February 2020.
Commenting on the news John Grant, chief analyst at OAG, said:
“Asia continues to have the busiest routes in the world due to its popularity as a tourism hotspot. Although capacity is not back to 2019 levels, London Heathrow remains a pivotal hub for global air travel.”
