Most people flying Kuala Lumpur - Singapore route in 2023

Most of the busiest routes in 2023 are in Asia, with the skies over South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and China always full of commercial flights.

According to research published on December 21 by British air travel analytics platform OAG, Asia's skies will be the most crowded in 2023, with nine of the 10 busiest routes located in this region. The data is calculated based on the number of busiest routes each month, recorded in the first week.

Changi Airport in Singapore. Photo: Bich Phuong — Changi Airport in Singapore. Photo: *Bich Phuong*

The route between Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore had the most seats sold this year with nearly 4.9 million seats and was the busiest international route. The busiest route is the route with the largest number of scheduled (non-charter) seats.

The second-busiest route is Cairo, Egypt to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with nearly 4.8 million seats sold, while Hong Kong to Taipei is third with more than 4.5 million seats sold. In 2019, Hong Kong to Taipei was the busiest international route. After the pandemic, the capacity between the two destinations, which are 1 hour and 45 minutes apart, has dropped by 43%.

10 busiest international flights in the world 2023

Flight	Ticket number	Nation
1. Kuala Lumpur- Singapore	4.89 million	Malaysia - Singapore
2. Cairo - Jeddah	4.79 million	Egypt - Saudi Arabia
3. Hong Kong - Taipei	4.56 million	China
4. Incheon - Kansai	4.21 million	Korea - Japan
5. Incheon - Tokyo Narita	4.15 million	Korea - Japan
6. Dubai - Riyadh	3.99 million	UAE - Saudi Arabia
7. Jakarta - Singapore	3.91 million	Indonesia - Singapore
8. New York - London	3.87 million	US - UK
9. Bangkok - Singapore	3.47 million	Thailand - Singapore
10. Bangkok - Incheon	3.36 million	Thailand - Korea

In a previous report, OAG named Tokyo Haneda as the world's third busiest airport in 2023, behind Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, US and Dubai, UAE with a total annual capacity of 52.6 million seats.

The world's busiest domestic flight route is Jeju - Seoul Gimpo (South Korea) with more than 13.7 million seats sold. The second is Fukuoka - Tokyo Haneda, Japan. The Sapporo New Chitose - Tokyo Haneda route of Japan is third. The Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City route is fourth with more than 10.8 million tickets sold.

In mainland China, the busiest routes are Beijing to Shanghai Hongqiao with more than 8.3 million seats. Guangzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao sold more than 7.1 million tickets and Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen had nearly 7 million tickets.

The data also shows that airline capacity in 2023 is still 21% lower than in 2019. On domestic routes, Indonesia's Jakarta and Denpasar routes increased by 8% compared to before the pandemic.

10 busiest domestic flights in 2023

Flight	Ticket number	Nation
1. Jeju - Seoul Gimpo	13.7 million	Korea
2. Sapporo New Chitose - Tokyo Haneda	11.9 million	Japan
3. Fukuoka - Tokyo Haneda	11.2 million	Japan
4. Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City	10.8 million	Vietnam
5. Melbourne - Sydney	9.3 million	Australia
6. Beijing - Shanghai Hongqiao	8.3 million	China
7. Tokyo Haneda - Okinawa Naha	8 million	China
8. Jeddah - Riyadh	7.9 million	Saudi Arabia
9. Mumbai - Delhi	7.2 million	India
10. Jakarta - Denpasar Bali	7.1 million	Indonesia